The Panther Sinks Her Claws
by Lavits Dragoon
Summary: Ruby is a bit of an introvert. She buries herself in her work and books, not spending much time out enjoying life like her big sister, Yang, wants for her. Yang becomes meddlesome one night and takes her out to enjoy herself. It works perfectly, at least for Yang, as Ruby awakens in a stranger's bed, not remembering the night before. Futa!Ruby. Modern world Au
1. Black-Out Drunk

**Hello! Happy American Thanksgiving! I know I said this would be out like two days ago, but I had family things happening for the holidays. Anyways, on to this story! It's Black Rose, for those that didn't read the summary and pairings! xD**

 **I have a lot for this story so I'm splitting it into 4 parts. This was originally going to be a one-shot, but after writing this chapter, I realized that wasn't going to happen. It turns out I have quite a lot of story to cover with this. So with that, here's my first Black Rose piece! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY! They are owned by Rooster Teeth and the late Monty Oum. You guys are such an inspiration!**

* * *

The Panther Sinks Her Claws

Chapter 1: Black-Out Drunk

Ruby walks down the street, headed to her favorite spot in town to think and work. She had her messenger bag slung across her shoulder, her art book and utensils inside, ready to get started. The place she was headed helped her think about her art easier if she knew what it was going on in the first place. That, and her sister being there always seemed to give her inspiration. It was easy to figure out why, when most of her art work involved a dragon in some way or another. She didn't know why, but there was something about her sister that made her think of a dragon. Maybe her name, or…

" **GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY SHOP!** "

…Or her attitude when angered. Ruby had arrived at her destination. "EMBER CELICA'S PAINT AND BODY SHOP" Ruby smiled at the sign when she saw it above her sister's mechanic shop, but frowned when she recognized the voice that was screaming. She noticed a person being thrown out the front door. The man quickly got up and sprinted for his life, running past Ruby, down the street to anywhere that wasn't that shop.

Ruby shook her head and walked through the front door. She saw her sister, Yang, storming off, going back to the garage to work from the main office. Yang wore an unbuttoned gray mechanic's shirt, her name patched on the left side in yellow letters, with an orange tank-top underneath it, showing some of her cleavage like she always did. A pair of old faded jeans and work boots completed the work outfit as it was all covered in grease and oil from the messy job. Her sister's golden mane tied in a pony tail for safety twirled as she spun around at the noise of the door opening again. "I TOLD YOU T-!?" The blonde's words were cut short when she noticed it wasn't the same man standing there, but her little sister, Ruby. "R-Ruby?! I'm sorry! I thought you were that jerk who just left! How's it going?" Yang ran up to hug Ruby. Giving her a bear hug as her anger turned into a big grin.

"Ughh…Yang…please…can't...breathe!..." Ruby got out as she was suffocating in her sister's grasp.

Yang noticed her little sister's plight and let her down, stroking her hair in nervousness. "Hehe…Sorry sis. Didn't mean to crush a lung."

Ruby beat on her chest to clear her throat and get some air. "It's fine…" Ruby shook her head, showing she was Ok. She then pointed a thumb towards the front door, where she encountered the frightened man running away. "…What was that about?"

"That jack-ass wanted to spray-paint **me** on his car! Nude! I told him to fuck off and he tried to grab me saying, 'Oh don't take it that way, babe!' So I decked him in the face and told him to scram!" Yang crosses her arms, getting offended. "He got off easy, the little punk."

Ruby smiled and laughed at her sister's take-no-shit-attitude. "You have such a temper…But you're right, what a jack-ass."

Yang laughs along with her, pulling Ruby under her left arm in a hug. "I know, right? …So, what's up? Come to get some more work done?" The sisters walk down the short hallway, towards the machine shop garage. They hear loud machinery blaring from beyond the mostly sound proofed door as they continue. Yang pushes it open and they step inside.

"You could say that."

* * *

The shop is lined with tool-boxes containing numerous instruments for working on cars, along with various machines for the same purpose. Grease and oil stained the floor in every section of the concrete floor. The sound of the impact torque wrench working on the wheels of a car cracked every so often in the opened up garage. 4 cars were parked in the shop, currently being worked on for different reasons. Two on each side of the garage, facing the other pair as they sat to be worked on. One was raised on the mechanical lift to be worked on from below. The mechanic currently working on the lifted car turns around to see who came back to the garage.

A man with blonde, spikey hair. The man was just wearing an identical shirt to Yang's, but with 'Sun' patched on instead. It had a few splotches of oil where he would wipe his hands, as he wore no undershirt, showing his abs to the world. He wore torn up jeans and a pair of yellow steel toe boots. A tail poked out of the back of the old and worn pants, twitching from side to side as he noticed the new company.

He smirks at Yang then smiles at Ruby and gives her a nod. "So, boss? I take it that deal didn't go so well?" The man asks sarcastically, having heard the yelling even over the torque wrench. "Sup, Ruby!"

"Shut it, Sun! That jack-ass isn't allowed in here again! Got it?" Yang yells at her friend and employee, not willing to put up with his teasing mood right now.

"Hey, Sun!" Ruby waves to him cheerily, not perturbed by her sister's reaction in the slightest.

"Damn, that bad? I probably don't want to know, do I?" Sun looks to them both for an answer.

"No, you don't." Yang gave a warning. Ruby just shrugged, leaving it up to her sister.

"Alright, fine. So Ruby, you here to start on the next project?" Sun asks, smiling at the talented artist.

"Sure am! I also thought I could get some work done on the next one!" Ruby rushes over to the car with a tarp over it. She pulls it off, showing the dull silver, 2017 Camaro. Ruby has been dying to paint this sucker with her newest work ever since her sister told her about it.

Her newest art work being, a traditional Chinese dragon fighting an albino tiger. They twist around each other, the tiger sinking its claws into the body of the dragon. The dragon's maw was primed to devour the tiger whole. The work was surrounded by roses of different colors on her sketch pad. The customer also said they were giving Ruby the choice of colors for the body of the car. Ruby found it strange, but accepted. Happy to give her own preference on such a beautiful car.

"This car is going to look so bad ass when we get done! I'm thinking red and black for the body." Ruby was moving around the car to see it from different angles. "They are one lucky SOB! This car is awesome!"

Yang and Sun give each other a knowing smile, without Ruby seeing. "So is that what you decided on? Red and black?"

"Yep! Let's get started!"

It was early in the day, when they started painting the body. They had to give it several hours to dry before they could work on the art piece that will run on the driver side of the car when it was done. Ruby decided to work on her next piece as they waited.

Ruby's next project was only roughly sketched, but it was a beautiful black panther roaring, surrounded by red crystalized roses, like they were cut from rubies.

The 3 eventually got to work again, spraying onto the stencils that Ruby created last night for the art work, being careful not to over shoot the plastic covering of the red and black paint job of the car. It took a while, but when they were finished with the last stencil job, Ruby put the tarp back over it to keep it covered from being messed up while it dries.

* * *

"I think this was probably my best work!" Ruby jumps up in joy, smiling at the tarp covered car.

"It's going to look so bad ass, sis." Yang hugged Ruby, then looked at her with a cheeky smile. "So do you want to know who it's for?"

"Yeah! Who is it for!?" Ruby's eyes widened with curiosity as she shouted.

"It's for you, dummy!" Yang bonked her on the head lightly for not figuring it out already.

"Ow…W-Wait, what!? Me?! But who would just give me a car?!" Ruby rubbed her head then shakes it, not understanding.

Yang just pointed to herself with a smug grin.

"You?! But how could you afford it?! I thought you wanted to upgrade bumblebee?" Ruby frowned, thinking she cost her sister way too much money.

"No! Ruby! It's your birthday present, dufus! And Christmas present, because that thing was fucking expensive!" Yang laughed, just playing around. She could afford it. Her shop was the best in Vale and business was going great. But Ruby's shoulder just sagged as she knew that it must have cost her too much.

"Ruby! I'm just kidding! I got bumblebee's upgrade yesterday. It was no trouble." Yang hugged Ruby again.

"Really?" Ruby mumbled into Yang.

"Yeah! And I'm taking you out tonight to celebrate on your sweet new ride!" Yang fist pumped in elation.

"Where are we going!?" Ruby got excited, thinking it's to her favorite pizza place.

Yang gave her a vicious smile and Ruby got worried and skeptic from that look. "Yang..?"

Yang giggled maniacally, then grabbed Ruby's shoulders so she can't escape. "I'm taking you to the strip club!"

"Yaaaang! You know I don't want to go to the strip club! It's so uncomfortable!" Ruby struggled out of her hold to hit Yang in the arm for the idea.

"Come on, Rubes! You're turning 23 like next week and you've never been to a strip club! It's going to be great, I promise!" Yang promised as she rubbed at her arm.

Ruby pouted, and crossed her arms, turning away from her sister.

Sun shook his head at the pair of sisters with a small smile. "It looks like a 'no,' Yang."

"Ruby, come on! I just got you a sweet new car and you got to paint it! Just humor me for one night as payment, please?" Yang begs, wanting to spend some quality time with her sister.

Ruby mumbled as she continued to pout, but finally relents, not able to take her sister's begging. "Fine!"

Yang threw her hands into the air, happy her sister decided to agree. "Yes!"

"But if I don't like it, I'm leaving and you can't stop me!" Ruby pointed at Yang, giving a serious glare.

"That's fine, Ruby. As long as you give it a shot." Yang shrugged, still happy with the agreement.

"So it's going to be, me, you, Sun, Neptune, and his friend Jaune, a teacher at the school that Neptune works with. He has also never been to a strip club before. So Neptune is forcing him. Anyways, you're going to have a great time, Ruby. I promise." Yang put her arm around her sister's shoulder again.

"It's…It's at least with women, right? Cause you know how I don't like seeing guys..." Ruby shook her head after she mumbles, embarrassment on her red cheeks.

"Duh! If we're going, of course its chicks!" Sun says, referring to the three guys.

"That doesn't really help, Sun. I see how you look at Neptune sometimes." Ruby mumbled as they walked to the front to take a break.

"Wh-What?! I-I don't know what you're talking about!?" Sun defended poorly, as Yang busted out laughing.

"Sun, we've all seen you two together. It couldn't be more obvious!" Yang patted him on the back, as if to console him.

"You guy's suck." Sun muttered, defeated.

"Nah, I haven't 'sucked' since I hooked up with Ice queen." Yang joked, laughing at her terrible pun.

"Yang! That's gross! And what **does** Weiss think about you going to the strip club?" Ruby asked, knowing Weiss would be insanely jealous that Yang is going to see other girls.

"Uh-uhm…What she doesn't know, won't hurt her. Or me." Yang shivered at thinking what Weiss would do to her.

"If she asks me directly, I'm not lying for you." Ruby instantly replied, crossing her arms in finality.

"Oh come on! What about our sisterly bond? You can't just abandon me?!" Yang pleaded again.

"She's my best friend, Yang! I'm not going to hurt her just cause you want to see some naked girls! There's porn for that!" Ruby explained, not caving this time.

"Fine! But I'm still going! I want to see my baby sis experience her first time at a strip club." Yang relented, patting her sister on the back with a proud grin.

"You know, that's a really weird thing to say, sis." Ruby face palmed at the creepy statement.

Yang just shrugged it off and Ruby sighed as she accepted what was in store... _'Tonight's going to suck.'_

* * *

They get inside the club and the lights are dimmed low, filling the atmosphere with mystery and anticipation.

Everyone but Ruby and Jaune have a smile on their face, both extremely uncomfortable with the situation. They find an empty table big enough for their group and sit down. The place they went to was a bar and strip joint combined. They could get drinks there while they enjoyed the show, so they did just that.

Yang ordered for everyone. She decided to start with a round of shots, celebrating her sister's twenty-third birthday 6 days away. Her plan was to get Ruby good and drunk so that she would let go and enjoy herself. Ruby reluctantly took the shot, feeling the burn as it went down her throat.

Ruby was not very tolerant when it came to alcohol. Not like her sister. It also didn't help that she didn't like to drink so she never built up such a tolerance. By the first shot, she just felt a little sick as it went down, the taste, she did not like.

After the first round Yang asked what she wanted next.

"You know I don't drink, Yang. Just a water is fine." Ruby declined a second drink.

"Come on, Rubes. Just get like a margarita or something else fruity." Yang shrugs, not caring as long as its alcohol.

"Fine." Ruby relents and looks at the menu of drinks. "What's the long island ice tea? I like tea."

Yang's eyes widen for a second then go back to normal, schooling her face back to neutral. "Uh, it's pretty good. You can hardly taste the small amount of alcohol in it, Ruby. You should try it!" Yang smiles on the inside.

"Alright, I'll have that, then."

A few minutes pass and the drinks come back. Yang pushes over the tea to Ruby. "Here ya go!"

"Thanks." Ruby takes a sip and is surprised. "Huh, it's not bad." She takes another sip and drinks more.

' _Yes! This is going great! She'll be drunk in no time! Now I just have to get Ruby to enjoy herself. All she ever does is work. She never takes time to enjoy life!'_ Yang thought as Ruby drank from the heavily spiked tea. Her plan was coming together perfectly. _'Now time to get rid of the idiots…'_ Yang looked to the three guys around the table.

"Hey, why don't you take Jaune to his first lap dance? Break him in, you know?" Yang laughed.

"Great idea!" Sun got up and dragged Jaune out of his seat as he was just drinking his fruity, colored drink, trying not to stare at the scantily-clad girls walking around him.

"No! That sounds like the opposite of great! I was enjoying that!" Jaune yelled as he's pulled away, muttering under his breath, 'Pyrrha's going to kill me.'

Neptune went ahead to speak to a woman about hooking up his nervous friend with a special dance.

A few moments later and a huge, big breasted, black woman came out to perform for the nervous blonde teacher.

Neptune came up to Yang and Ruby at the table, holding his sides in laughter. He whisper yells to the two of them so they can hear him over the music. "Her-her name is, 'Darq Chocolate!' Prepare for the 'show'!" He chuckled at the unfortunate man being led to a chair. They watch as the performer grabbed her boobs and pushed them in Jaune's face, smothering him. Jaune uncontrollably laughed in embarrassment, not able to take the situation seriously.

The performer got fed up with his reaction, thinking there was something wrong with Jaune. "Are you touched in the head, or somethin'?" She asked as she glared at him.

Not able to respond from the embarrassment, Jaune just kept laughing.

The performer eventually stomped off, annoyed, thinking that he was laughing at her the whole time, keeping her money for the inconvenience. They all burst out laughing at Jaune being so embarrassed as he came back to the table with a huge blush, slamming his head on the table.

* * *

Ruby eventually polishes off her second glass of the long island tea. Still enjoying her drink, not noticing the heavy buzz now.

The music is turned down as the announcer came on the speaker to set the tone for the next dancer on stage. **"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. It's time to direct your attention to the main stage. This lovely lady is a ferocious one. She'll claw your eyes out for getting too close. Some of you may know who I'm talking about. The feisty-feline-faunus! The Pouncing Panther!"** The music kicks back up, undertones of a wild jungle theme.

Out steps one gorgeous lady wearing nothing but see-through lingerie. A lacy, black bra with matching panties and stockings. She has pointed black cat ears on her head covered in silky black hair and behind her is a long black tail that swished around as she swayed her beautiful, curvaceous ass.

Ruby couldn't take her eyes off of her. Her tail curling up and swaying with her hips as she approached the pole on the stage to spin on it. The way her hair fell around her face as she locked her legs around the pole and arced her back to go upside down, showing her flexibility and strong thighs. She locked eyes with Ruby while upside down and gave her a wink as she continued to spin in seductive circles, her chest arcing out for the room to see. Ruby immediately looked down at her lap in embarrassment, blushing crimson at the look the black haired girl gave her.

Yang noticed her reaction and smirked. "See something you like, Ruby?" Yang laughed as Ruby looked up at her, sputtering denial.

"S-Stop making fun of me! I'll leave, Yang!" Ruby threatened, horribly embarrassed.

"Alright, alright! Calm down, Ruby." Yang put her hands up in surrender. "But you know, she's still going~." Yang pointed back up stage with a grin as Ruby's eyes widened.

Ruby whipped her head back that direction to watch, completely forgetting her sister laughing at her. True to her sister's word, the black haired beauty was still spinning around the pole. As she came around again to face the crowd, she hissed out and gave a clawing motion to the men that were right at the stage, playing her part of a vicious jungle cat. She then got off the pole to crouch down on the stage like she's about to pounce. She reached back to work her bra off instead. It comes off slowly as Ruby starts to feel stiffening in her pants.

The panther took her generous mounds in her hands and pushed them together, licking her lips at the crowd. Ruby licked her lips in return. The cat took a nipple into her mouth and played with the other. She then got up and started to grind her backside against the pole, bending all the way down to the floor as her hair fell around her face. She then stepped away from the shiny metal pole and threw herself onto it at an angle. The panther started to spin rapidly, letting go after the first spin and only holding on by her thighs, she leaned back and stayed horizontal as she continued to spin using only her lower body for stability. She then reached out to the crowd as if they were allowed to touch her. They were only able to throw money her way, though. Mostly one's and five's. A lot of twenty's. Even a few hundred dollar bills. She was a pretty popular performer at the club, after all.

Ruby gave out an, 'eep,' as she felt herself get harder after such an open display of perfect skin. Yang smiled deviously as she knew what was happening to her sister.

After the woman was done with her performance and had placed her earnings in her panties, she strutted off stage, giving a wave as she smiled ferociously.

Yang mumbled to Ruby as she got up from the table. "I'll be right back."

* * *

While Yang was gone, Ruby continued to drink her 'tea', paying her sister's absence no mind as she tried to get her mind off of her erection. Her judgement was starting to get cloudy as she started to feel the effects of the drink she continued to guzzle down. She felt freer now, like nothing had a consequence anymore.

As Yang came back, she had that same conniving grin from before. "Hey, Ruby. I know you said you don't like this place, but I got you a private lap dance in the back. You wanna try it?" Yang noticed Ruby's eyes were glassed over in intoxication as her sister looked her way instantly.

"S-Sounds ghoud, Yang! Where to!?" Ruby stuttered drunkenly, getting a bit louder than normal. Yang jabbed her thumb towards a curtained room, smiling at Ruby's yelling, as she was clearly drunk at this point.

Ruby got up from her seat, not even having to think about it. She wanted to have fun and a 'lap dance' sounded exactly like what she needed.

' _Ruby you are in for a treat…All expenses paid.'_ Yang laughed evilly in her head as she watched her sister move past her.

Ruby struggled to walk straight as she persevered to the room in the back. Yang was barely containing her laughter as she watched her sister stumble around, barely missing other tables.

Ruby eventually made it and walked through the black curtain.

Inside was a nice leather chair with a certain black haired faunus sitting on the arm rest with a robe around her body.

"Hello there…" The woman spoke in a sultry tone. The panther soon shrugged the clothing off, showing that she was still in the same state as when she left the stage before. She grinned at Ruby seductively, as she got up from the chair in only a pair of black panties. She then gestured for Ruby to sit down.

Ruby's eyes widened at seeing it's the same woman from before, but still managed to smile at her drunkenly, struggling to keep eye contact. "H-Hello." Ruby plopped down in the chair, not able to hold her balance much longer anyways.

"What's your name, cutey~?" The panther faunus asked as she gently swiped her nails down Ruby's arm, circling the chair the girl sat in.

"Uh-uhm…R-Ruby." She stuttered at the contact, getting a tingling feeling down her spine at the gentle but danger-intoned contact.

"Well, Ruby. You can call me, Blake. Now, what's say we get started." The cat faunus, now known as Blake, turned around in front of Ruby and started to sway her hips and tail for her, flipping her shiny black hair over her shoulder as she got closer to the other girl's lower body.

Ruby's eyes were locked on the woman's backside, unable to look away as her eyes darted from one big soft mound of flesh to the other, then to the tail, like a cat watching a fish swim around in a bowl. Blake watched as Ruby's hands started to fidget, wanting to touch her. She smirked at the attempt to resist.

"The rules are no touching...But I'll allow it. Just for you~." Blake said in the same sultry, smooth tone as when Ruby entered. _'More like, because your friend payed me a shit-ton. We're going to have some fun tonight, red.'_

Ruby slowly reached out, looking back up to Blake to make sure, even through her drunken state. The faunus gave her a reassuring smile and grabbed Ruby's wrist to guide her gently to her barely clothed ass. Ruby's hand landed on her right cheek and squeezed hard as she massaged the silky, but firm flesh. Blake gave out a hum of acceptance, as she rocked back and forth in Ruby's strong grip.

Blake then moved closer, sitting in her lap. Grinding into her pelvis. Ruby gave out a soft moan at the feeling, biting her lip as she squeezed harder on the ass in her palm. Blake soon understood why, feeling something hard and bulging press into her butt. Her eyes widen at the surprise and she looked back at Ruby. "I see you have something extra back there." Blake gave her a smile as she continued moving against the pulsing member in Ruby's pants, showing she doesn't mind.

Ruby became scared however, and tried to push the woman off, apologizing for the inconvenience, worried that Blake would start to tell people about her secret. "Look! You can't tell anyone, plea-!?" Ruby gets cut off though, as Blake turned around and pressed a finger to her lips.

"It's Ok, Ruby. I'm not telling anyone." Blake straddled Ruby's legs and leaned down to her ear as she sat in the smaller girl's lap. "It's also kind of important that you don't tell people what I'm about to do with you. It's against the rules here." Blake seductively whispered into her ear, biting it a little.

"Nnnhn…wh-what are we going to do?" Ruby whispered back, her heart thrumming in her chest. Blake just grins at her like a cat, hearing the rapid palpitations.

"This…"

* * *

Ruby woke up in bed. She groaned at the light piercing through the curtains. The intense rays made her head throb as they nearly blinded her. It felt like someone was using her head as the base drum in a drum set. She quickly closed her eyes again and felt the headache lessen a small amount. "mmmmh…What happened last night?" Ruby shoved her head into the pillow, trying to block out the light.

"Hmmm…Fun times~." A voice said next to Ruby on the bed.

Ruby shot up, surprised someone was in her bed. She instantly regretted the action as the throbbing came roaring back in her brain case.

"Wh- Owwwww!…my head…" Ruby grabbed her head and cradled it, putting her head back down in the pillow, trying to make the pain go away. She managed to get a glimpse of the person when she shot out of the bed, though. A sea of black and striking golden eyes.

"I guess that hangover is a rough one." The stranger whispered, not wanting to make it worse for Ruby. "I'll get you something for the pain. Just give me a second." Ruby felt the bed shift as weight came off and she realized that it wasn't hers. Now that she thought about it, the glimpse she got of her surroundings didn't look like her room at all. Ruby took a peek out of her arm wrapped around her head and saw the naked figure walk away. Ruby blushed as she watched her ass and tail sway out the unfamiliar door.

"Mmmmh…Ok, what did I do yesterday?" Ruby thought aloud with a grunt, her head still throbbing. She started to run through the list of things she remembered from the day prior. _'I woke up, had breakfast. Went to the shop to work on the…My car! That's right! Yang said it was mine now! And then we-!'_ Ruby then remembered where they went after that. She didn't remember what happened though, the last thing she recalled was…the pouncing panther… _'Did we…?'_

To answer her question, the other girl came back to nudge Ruby in the shoulder. "Here you go, I got you some water and something for your head. Can you sit up to take it?"

Ruby groaned as she got up, squinting at the light. "Th-thank you." Ruby rasped out. She took the pills from her hand and swallowed them quickly, before drinking the entire glass. She felt like her throat was a desert after the night of drinking.

"It's no problem, I'm gonna get a shower. You can go when you want, just shut the front door all the way after you go, please." Blake got up and went to the door again, still completely nude. Ruby wasn't able to take her eyes away from the striking figure before her as it walked away.

Blake, feeling the staring, smirked as she cocked her hip to the side. "Enjoying the show? Like last night~?"

Ruby turned away, embarrassed at being caught staring. "Uh, wh-what happened last night?"

Blake turned around to see Ruby's face marked with shame. Blake gave her brow a raise as she started to put it together, just what's going on inside Ruby's head. _'What? Is this her first one night stand or something? She certainly wasn't a virgin…'_ Blake smirked again at the memories from last night.

"We did it. If you're wondering why, it's because a friend of yours paid for it. It's against the rules for me to have sex with clients during business hours, but I traded shifts with someone so they could cover for me. It happens all the time." Blake shrugged it off.

"S-so you're a pr-pr…" Ruby stuttered out, confused and embarrassed.

"Prostitute? If you want to look at it that way, fine. It happens on occasion, though. I get paid very well for it. And I'm not owned by some pimp, so it's a pretty sweet deal." Blake leaned against the wall next to the door and crossed her arms as she explained herself.

"Ohhh geeze…We didn't…We used protection right?" Ruby squeaked out as she got scared she caught something from the other girl. She immediately felt bad about asking, as insensitive as it was, but she had to be sure.

"Yes we did, and no I don't have anything. I check myself once a month. I'm clean. I do have a question for you though. Can you actually get someone pregnant with that?" Blake gestured to the dick that Ruby shouldn't have.

"mmmh…Yes…It works. I was born with it." Ruby squirmed in the bed, not liking to talk about it, especially with someone she just met.

Blake gave a hum of understanding and pulled herself from the wall to walk out of the bedroom. "Alright, well I'm going to go shower now. You can leave whenever." She walked off again. Ruby didn't stop her this time as she was too lost in her own thoughts.

* * *

' _How could this happen?! I don't just sleep with people! I must have been drunk, but I don't drink..? Yang! She must have talked me into drinking. She may have even set this all up!'_ Ruby got angry and saw her pants lying on the floor beside the bed. She reached down and pulled out her phone to call Yang. The other phone picks up after the second ring. A tired Yang on the line.

"Ughh…What…?"

"Yang! What did you do!?" Ruby screamed into the phone.

Yang fumbles with the phone, surprised with the yelling. "R-Ruby? What happened?" Yang got her parental instincts churning, wondering if something bad happened with the other girl she made a deal with for Ruby.

"You know what happened, Yang! You made me sleep with a p-prostitute!" Ruby blared into the phone, then got worried Blake heard her. She looked at the door, waiting to hear something different than the shower running down the hall. When nothing changed, she went back to the phone in her hands to hear Yang again.

"Technically she's a stripper who does things on the side…" Yang tried to reason, but Ruby just whisper-yelled back.

"Yang?! I don't care! Why did you do that!? You know I don't like people to know about me?!" Ruby started to get furious. She was always very secretive about her futa member. The only ones that knew, that weren't family, were her best friend Weiss and this girl named Reese that she dated in high school.

"Ruby I'm sorry! But did it work out? Are you Ok?" Yang asked, concerned for her sister.

"Yes, Yang! It worked out! I had sex with a prostitute! Are you happy?!" Ruby started to feel really bad about calling the other girl names when all she's been doing was her job. _'Who am I to judge someone's profession?'_ Ruby looked down with a frown on her face.

Yang's voice came back up to snap her out of her sullen mood. "You used protection, right? No future nieces or nephews I should worry about?" Yang tried a joke to change the mood. It didn't work so well though.

"Yaaaang! I don't want to think about that! I don't even know her!" Ruby whined from the teasing.

"You could always get to know her? You couldn't take your eyes off of her last night. You never know, she could be your future baby momma!" Yang joked again, not able to help herself now.

"Stop it, Yang! I'll tell Weiss where you were last night! I swear!" Ruby threatened her with the one thing Yang considered a threat.

"Ok, Ok. I'll stop. Just, look. If you're worried about feeling like you just paid for sex, which I know you sis, you are, then just take her out and if it doesn't work. Then fine. No skin off your back, and you feel less bad about 'using' her." Yang advised with air quotes when she said, used. She then looked over to the other side of her shared bed when she saw movement. White hair beginning to shift around. "Look, Ruby. I gotta go, Weiss is getting up. You can handle it. Just try a date with her. Bye sis, I love you!"

* **Click** *

"Bye…" Ruby muttered to herself as Yang had already hung up.

* * *

Ruby sighed heavily as she thought about her situation. Yang was right, she felt. She did feel like she used Blake. Maybe taking the other girl for some breakfast would make herself feel better. _'It would be like dating normally in reverse. But it would still be the same, right?'_ Ruby huffed at the crappy logic. "But it's the best option…" _'I'll feel like such a piece of shit if I don't try.'_

"What's the best option?" Blake came back in a towel, her hair still wet from her shower. She looked to Ruby, curiously.

"Oh, uh…Nothing. Just wondering if-if you, uh, wanted to go out for breakfast?" Ruby squeaked, questioning her own question, as Blake's brow arced up again.

"So, what? Are you feeling like you need to treat me now because we had sex? It's not a big deal, really." Blake shrugged her shoulders. "At least you're not some purvey fat guy..."

"N-No! It's not that, honest! I just want to…get to know you is all..." Ruby scratched her cheek, looking away from Blake's questioning eyes. _'That's exactly what this is, though.'_

Blake interrupted with a sigh. "Fine, whatever. But you're paying." She said as she shrugged off her towel and wiped down her body, inadvertently giving Ruby a show. She then made her way to her dresser drawer to get some panties and a bra, putting them on, not caring Ruby was right there to watch.

She already saw everything anyways, so did a lot of people by now...

Blake then went to her closet to put on a T-shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans. Ruby's face was buried in the pillow by now, embarrassed as she forced her eyes away from the lithe, toned body in front of her.

"What's your deal? You've already seen everything." Blake slapped her on the arm to get her up after she finished getting dressed. "You going to get up or what?" Ruby flinched at the hit and bolts up from the bed, stumbling in the covers.

"Yeah! I'm up. Where's the bathroom?" Ruby finally got out of the bed and looked to Blake for directions.

"Down the hall, furthest door on the right."

"Thanks…" Ruby muttered as she left the room.

* * *

Once they were both ready to leave, they walked out onto the sidewalk to begin thinking of a place to eat at.

"So…where do you usually eat breakfast?" Ruby asked quietly, not liking the uncomfortable silence.

"I usually skip breakfast. More of a night person, really." Blake humored her. _'People like this are so annoying. You had sex after paying for it, big deal! Is that any different than a normal date? At least this way you get what you paid for.'_ Blake sighed inwardly at the inevitable boring date.

"Oh, well I like the day. The nights are great too, but it just doesn't offer as much to do as the daytime. You know?" Ruby looked over to her, expecting a response. Blake just shrugged.

"I don't know, I just don't like waking up after peaceful rest. And the sun shining in your eyes after a hangover is the **worst**." Blake draws out 'worst' as she shuffles on with Ruby down the sidewalk.

"Yeah, it does hurt. I don't normally drink though, I'm a bit of a light weight when it comes to drinking. Never liked it either." Ruby shook at the taste of alcohol, sticking her tongue out in mild disgust.

"So, what were you doing at the strip club then, if you're not a night person or a drinker?" Blake got curious of the girl. Not understanding why, such a seeming stick in the mud, would go to a strip club.

"Well, my sister just bought me a new car that I was painting at her shop for my early birthday. It was a surprise. And to celebrate, she dragged me to a strip club. She was the one with the wild blonde hair. The one that, no doubt, set up our arrangement." Ruby looked over to Blake, wanting to make sure.

"Yeah, it was her... Why would your sister pay for me to have sex with you, though?" Blake asked, weirded out by the idea.

"I don't know? Yang has always done really dumb things. I think she just likes to make me suffer." Ruby sulked as she kicked the concrete.

"Oh, so sleeping with me is suffering, is it?" Blake glared at her, for the slip-up.

"N-No,no,no! I didn't mean-!?" Ruby started to back pedal, waving her arms in front of herself, before noticing Blake's laugh.

"Wow! You are just too easy!" Blake said with a chuckle, snickering at the red head's pout.

"Yeah, well so are you…" Ruby muttered under her breath.

"Hey, genius. I can hear you, you know?" Blake pointed to her ears.

Ruby let's out an, 'eep' of embarrassment, as Blake laughed again. "I'm kidding! If I couldn't take a jab like that, I would never make it in this business. You're fine." Blake bumped shoulders with her, reassuring Ruby that there were no hard feelings.

Ruby tried to continue her pout, but eventually a smile spread across her face as they continue down the street.

Ruby eventually stopped in front of a simple diner, gaining Blake's attention again. "How about here?" Ruby pointed to the small building off to the side with a questioning smile.

"Eh, sure." Blake smirked at the shy girl feeling better. _'At least she bounces back pretty fast. Get to have more fun messing with her...'_

* * *

They enter, and the place is in a bustle. People all enjoying their breakfast early in the morning at the place smelling of pancakes and coffee. The two walked up to the hostess and Ruby asked for a booth. The lady led them over to a free one and sat them down, handing out menus.

"Alright, what drinks can I get you two today?" The hostess asked with a practiced smile.

"Coffee." Blake muttered, tired still. "Black." She smiled slightly as the lady wrote it down.

"I'll have some milk." Ruby smiled at the hostess taking down the drinks, before glancing at Blake who gave her a weird look for ordering milk like a kid.

"Alright, I'll bring this back soon. Your waitress should be around any minute to take your food orders." The hostess said before she walked off to fill the order.

"Ok, so, milk? Really?" Blake asked with a squint, not understanding how a grown woman would order milk.

"What? I like milk? Is that such a crime?" Ruby said defensively.

"No, I like milk too, but I'm a cat faunus. What's your excuse?" Blake asked with a chuckle.

"I drink milk because it's good for your bones. It-it helps you grow." Ruby stuttered, realizing how childish she sounded as it came out.

Blake snickered behind her hand as her eyes closed in mirth. "Oh, your bone grew alright." She started to laugh more as Ruby started to get uncomfortable, blushing as she caught on to what she meant. "You are just too precious. So how old are you? 13?" Blake joked, continuing the teasing.

Ruby huffed in indignation. "I'm turning 23 next week!" She crossed her arms and looked away, mad.

"Sorry, sorry." Blake chuckled again. As the laughter died off, Blake started to remember Ruby saying something about painting earlier. "So you paint? Is that what you do?" Blake asked, just biding time until their waitress came around.

Ruby snapped to attention at 'painting', always ready to talk about art. "Yeah! I do designs for my sister's auto shop. I do the detail work!" Ruby smiled, forgetting about being made fun of instantly.

' _Geeze, she's like a puppy. I just have to change the subject to something she likes and she's happy again.'_ Blake gave a hum, as she thought about what that job was like.

"So you do custom paint jobs on cars? That's pretty cool. What does your work look like?" At that moment the hostess came by with the drinks.

"I'm sorry for the wait. Here you are!" She sat the drinks down. Leaving the jug of coffee for Blake to pour more if she wanted later. They both said 'thanks' and after the hostess left again, Ruby turned back to Blake to answer her question.

"It generally depends on what I'm feeling at the moment. Sometimes people request certain pieces, though. That's always interesting." Ruby happily explained about her work and hobby.

"Why is it interesting? You're not able to do what you want anymore, right?" Blake asked, somewhat invested.

"Well, it challenges me. I like a challenge sometimes. It makes me better, I think." Ruby smiled to her. _'This isn't going so bad after all.'_

' _A challenge, huh?'_ Blake swirled her finger around the edge of the coffee mug, thinking. _'I like a challenge, too.'_ She returned Ruby's smile before the waitress came by to take their orders.

"Sorry! We're kind of busy today. I'm ready to take your orders, if you're ready to give them." The blonde asked nicely.

Ruby freaked out, forgetting to think of what she wanted to eat. She grabbed her head and looked down at her menu. "Uh! Give me a moment, please!" She flipped through the menu, ignoring Blake's soft giggle.

The faunus got the waitress's attention with a raise of a finger as Ruby continued to search through the pages of food. "We'll have steak omelets." Blake ordered for both of them and the waitress wrote it down. She then gave a nod and smile before walking off towards the kitchen.

Ruby looked back up, panicking as she still wasn't ready. "W-Where did she go?"

"I ordered for us. I got us steak omelets. I figured since you're paying, might as well cash in." Blake softly laughed at Ruby's cute pout.

"Well, that does sound pretty good…" Ruby answered shortly after. Ruby started to shift uncomfortably in thought as Blake rolled her eyes.

"What is it now, Ruby?"

That got Ruby's attention as she snaps up to look at Blake. "W-Wait. I don't remember telling you my name?"

"You told me when I asked you during your lap dance." Blake laughed again as Ruby lit up in a blush and looked down at her lap. "I told you my name too. It's Blake, if you didn't remember."

Ruby nodded, remembering. Still blushing bright red though. "Right…Blake." Ruby looked up at her and smiled. "It's a nice name."

"Thanks." Blake gave a nod. "So, Ruby. What had you all fidgety?" Blake asked again, not forgetting her original question.

"Oh, uhm. Well... I thought... Since you asked me about what I do. I could ask the same from…you?" Ruby scratched the back of her head, smiling awkwardly.

"Sure, that seems fair. What do you want to know?" Blake leaned back for Ruby to ask away.

Ruby started slowly. "Ok, well... Why do you do it?" She asked quietly, feeling like it's a very dangerous question.

Blake put her at ease though, shaking her head with a smile. "It's fine Ruby. I don't mind talking about my work. I do it simply because I like it and I'm good at it. It pays well. At least better than some waitress job." Blake shrugs.

"But-But don't you feel…I don't know... cheap?" Ruby squeaks out very quietly, not wanting to offend again.

"I don't know about you, but I'm certainly not cheap. People throw money at me for showing some skin. They're all a bunch of suckers." Blake shook her head, before realizing she may have offended Ruby. "Sorry, no offence to you though."

"None taken. I didn't pay for anything. I agree with you on that. They are suckers. Why pay money for that, when you have the internet?" Ruby laughed.

Blake laughed along with her. "Exactly!"

* * *

The next couple minutes go by as they just talk about funny experiences while waiting for the food. Eventually their plates came and the waitress sat them down before getting Ruby a refill on her milk. They fall into a bit of silence as they enjoy the hot meal early in the morning.

"Thanks, Ruby. This is good." Blake said, smiling at the girl across the booth from her.

"No problem. It is good." Ruby smiled back after taking a drink from her milk, coming back with a milk mustache.

"Hahahaha!" Blake busted out laughing at how ridiculous Ruby seemed. So innocent…so cute…

Ruby pouted as she looked around herself in anger. "What's so funny?"

"You…you have a milk mustache!" Blake got out as she wiped away a tear of mirth. Ruby quickly wiped the dairy away, deeply embarrassed.

Blake calmed down a bit, still smiling as her laughing fit settled. "I'm sorry Ruby. You're just so adorable."

Ruby looked away instantly, blushing pink at the compliment. "Th-Thank you…Y-You're really beautiful." Ruby mumbled back, speaking from the heart.

Blake smiled warmly, knowing she meant it instead of all the guys just saying it to get into her pants. "Thanks, Ruby."

* * *

They finish off their meals rather fast, but still stay, as they enjoy each other's company. To pass some time, Ruby started to doodle some caricatures of people around the diner at Blake's request. One in particular, was of a portly gentleman at a booth, enjoying some coffee. Ruby made him basically a ball with tiny limbs and gave him a ridiculous mustache to add to the personality. They both laughed till they cried at the crude, over-dramatized drawing.

After glancing outside at the sun high in the sky, the two girls soon realized that they had been there for hours now and should probably get going with their days. But they also realize they don't want to. Ruby and Blake gave each other a warm smile as they realized they enjoyed their time together.

"Well... We should probably go." Blake said, slowly and reluctantly.

"Uh…Yeah, I guess." Ruby looked down, saddened, very poor at hiding how she really felt. Blake saw it easily and frowned as she felt the same way.

Ruby instantly perked up with wide eyes and an idea, though. "Well, I could still walk you home, right? If-If you want me too?" Ruby finished with a mumble, not entirely sure if she was just reading into things with Blake.

"Yeah, I would like that." Blake nodded with a smile, loving how cute Ruby was when she was shy and unsure, which was all the time, apparently.

They got up and left the diner with ever-present smiles on their faces. Heading back to Blake's place. Every step Ruby took felt like she was dying from the struggle her heart was giving her, not wanting this date to end. They had such a good time together, but Blake didn't seem the type to want to date someone seriously. Could Ruby really date someone that had sex with strangers for money, anyways? Ruby shook her head sullenly, at the thoughts in her head.

Blake noticed the somber expression on the shorter girl's face, thinking along the lines of the same thing. She had fun. Her expectations were really low at the beginning, but by the end she couldn't remember a time she had so much fun. But Ruby definitely doesn't seem the type to be Ok with dating a stripper. _'I don't think I could give up my career just like that. It's what I love doing. Not even if I was in a serious relationship. That hasn't happened in a long time, though. Would I even be able to separate my dating life with my work?'_ She sighed as they walked together, getting closer to their destination. _'I could try. If she wanted to. But is she even willing to?'_ Blake looked over to Ruby, seeing her scuff her shoe into the ground. Blake smiled at the immature gesture. _'So cute.'_

They finally made it to Blake's place after a very slow walk home. "Well, this is it." Blake turned around at her door to see Ruby off. Ruby was looking at her feet, still feeling down about all the doubtful thoughts. "I had a good time, Ruby."

Ruby looked up at her, shocked to hear her say that. "You did? I-I did too!" Ruby gave a cheery grin, elated to hear it.

"Well, would you-?" Before Blake could ask Ruby for a second date, her door burst open and a nightmare from her past came forth from her own apartment. A faunus man wearing filthy clothes and wreaking of booze, walked out of Blake's place, glaring at the two of them.

"Blake! Get your ass in here, you ungrateful bitch!" He grabbed the other faunus by her hair as he didn't wait for an answer. Blake, still shocked by seeing him, doesn't retaliate as she screams in pain from him pulling on her hair. He started to drag her into the apartment, screaming obscenities at her face as she started to struggle.

Ruby froze in place as it all happened too fast to process. _'What the hell happened?! Who…Who is this!? And what does he want with Blake?'_ Ruby started to shake, not out of fear, but anger. She gritted her teeth and walked in after them.

The small red head approached them with shaking fists. "Hey! Leave Blake alone!" Ruby shouted at the man, trying to tug Blake from his grasp, but not strong enough to do so.

"Who the hell are you?! Some skank that she works with!? Get the hell out!" The man back handed Ruby away and she fell to the floor with a cry.

"Ruby!" Blake yelled for her to react, hoping she's alright. She sighed in relief as Ruby grabbed her cheek and rubbed it, trying to get up. "Adam, stop! Leave her alone! She has nothing to do with this. Don't hurt her!" Blake tried to get in the way of Adam continuing his ruthless beat down of her new friend, but he just grabbed Blake by the throat and threw her to the wall, forcibly moving her out of his way.

"Out of the way, Blake! She wants to stick up for you? Let her!" Adam gave Blake a manic smile as he held her by the throat.

Ruby was on her knees by this point, as she glanced up to see this Adam hurting Blake. She remembered what Yang taught her to do in a situation like this. Reaching into the hem of the back of her pants, Ruby pulled it out, getting it ready.

When Adam finally turned to face Ruby again, his eyes widened as she came at him with a stun gun. Ruby pressed it into his neck and flicked it on at max power. The intimidating noise flared from the personal defense weapon and Adam's body tensed up as he hit the wall beside him, smacking his head against it as he went down and let go of Blake. A groan is the only noise he made before he was out like a light, still twitching slightly.

Ruby grabbed Blake's hand and tugged her towards the exit. "Come on, Blake! Let's go!" Blake kept staring at Adam, not believing what just happened as she let herself be taken away from him.

* * *

They run to a nearby alleyway entrance and Ruby looked worriedly at Blake. "Blake, are you Ok? Who was that?" She checked her for more bruises, finding a lump on the back of her head when she was thrown into the wall, as well as a bruise on her neck from being choked.

Blake sank in on herself. "Th-That was…Adam. M-My ex-boyfriend." Blake broke down into a sobbing fit, terrified that he's back out of jail and free to haunt her. Ruby hugged her and tried to comfort the trembling girl as best she could. Blake continues to mutter into Ruby's shoulder as she re-lives all the horrible memories of Adam in her life. "N-Now that he knows where I live again, h-he'll just keep coming after me!" Blake clenched on to Ruby shirt, truly scared for her life.

"Not if I can help it! We'll call the police, Blake! They will take him away! He assaulted you, that's got to be at least 5 or 6 months, right?" She looked to Blake, wondering if she knew more about this, considering this didn't seem to be the first time something like this happened to her. Ruby hugged Blake tighter at the thought. _'Just what have you had to go through...?'_

"Maybe, but what then? He'll just come back! I can't keep moving from place to place! He'll eventually find where I work now, too!" Blake choked up, getting more and more upset at all that Adam has put her through. _'I was just getting comfortable at this club, too...'_

"You…You can stay with me, Blake." Ruby smiled softly at her as Blake looked up to make sure she wasn't hearing things.

"Ruby, I can't drag you into this! He's dangerous! He'll hurt you too!" Blake shut her eyes and shook her head at the idea. She didn't want to involve anyone in her problems, especially not Ruby. She would only get hurt...

Ruby grabbed her shoulders firmly to get her attention as she tried to reason with the distraught faunus. "Blake. I'm already involved. I hit him with a stun gun remember? If he is going to come after either of us, wouldn't it make sense to stick together? He doesn't know where I live. Let me help, Blake." Ruby showed worry in her sparkling silver eyes, pleading to let her help Blake.

Blake swallowed roughly as she stared into Ruby's eyes. Her heart seized at the protectiveness radiating from them and she put her head back down on Ruby's shoulder, hugging her tighter.

"Thank you…" Blake muttered. Ruby smiled softly and threw her arms around the taller girl, hugging back just as tightly.

Shortly after Blake started to calm down, Ruby pulled out her phone and dialed 911. She informed the police that a friend of hers was attacked by her ex. Dispatch informed her that they have people on the way after Ruby gave them the address. She put her phone up and held Blake again, giving her a small nudge after a while. "Come on, we should go make sure he's still there."

Blake shook at the idea of seeing him again and couldn't contain a whimper as it escaped her lips. Ruby kissed the top of her head, trying to calm Blake down as she rubbed her back soothingly. In a soft voice, Ruby continued. "I can go and you can stay here if you want?" As soon as Ruby got it out Blake clenched her fists in Ruby shirt and glanced down the alley, towards her apartment where Adam lies, not wanting her to go and leave her with him so close by.

Ruby smiled at the neediness and gave Blake a calming, gentle scratch on her back. "Alright, we don't have to go in. Just let me keep an eye on the front door." Ruby helped Blake up, still surrounding her in her arms. They moved a bit closer to the front door to watch over it while the cops were on the way.

While waiting, Blake muttered quietly to Ruby. "Why…Why are you helping me?"

Ruby sighed, and thought to herself why she was as well. "Well, I guess it's because no one deserves to be put through what you have, Blake. And I want to help." Ruby looked down at the top of Blake's head and smiled. "And I also kinda like you." Ruby scratches her blushing cheek as she confesses.

Blake finally smiled, albeit, to herself as she heard Ruby's words. She felt the same way, though. And as she was finally overcoming her shock from her past coming back, she was able to express it. "I like you too." Blake whispered as she listened to Ruby's heart stumble for an instant.

* * *

Two squad cars eventually pulled up in front of the apartment building. The policemen stepped out and surveyed the area said to be the location of the crime. Ruby shot up as she recognized one of them about to head in. She waved to her, trying to get her attention. "Over here!" The woman police officer eyed the almost cradled woman in Ruby's arms and called dispatch to send an ambulance, just in case, as she rushed over to them.

"Ruby? What are you doing here? What happened?" The woman with snow white hair asked.

"Weiss! I'm glad they sent you! The man in the apartment who should be passed out still, he attacked us! He's her ex, apparently. He's done it before as well!" Ruby got out in a hurry, not wasting any time.

"This man's unconscious!" One of Weiss' co-workers yelled over to Weiss, who was his superior as a sergeant.

Weiss yelled back. "Cuff him! He attacked these two!" Weiss gestured to Ruby and Blake. The man, she yelled to, gave a nod and rushed back in to follow orders.

"Well, you two are Ok now. How bad is it?" Weiss asked, referring to the injuries on Ruby and Blake.

"I'm Ok, I just got slapped around some. But she was choke slammed into a wall. She may have a concussion? I don't know." Ruby waved off her bruised face for Blake's more possibly serious injury as she tried to feel for the lump on Blake's head again.

"Alright, I already called in an ambulance. They are on their way now. Probably not going to need them though, at least not to rush her to the hospital. Just a patch job." Weiss said, before giving them a weird look. "So how do you know her, Ruby?"

Ruby froze up at the question. She slowly looked up to Weiss' raised eyebrow. "Uhm…We met last night, you see. And I just came over to check on her today, to see how she was…doing?" Ruby questioned her excuse, wondering if Weiss would buy it. The expression on the cop's face said no.

"Ruby, you're a terrible liar…" Blake mumbled out as she looked up to see the police woman. "I'm Blake, me and Ruby hooked up last night. And when we came back from breakfast, my ex was already in my apartment. I don't know how he got in, though. He shouldn't have a key to my apartment." Blake informed slowly.

"He may have snuck in through the window, or possibly picked the lock. Either way, if you press charges for trespassing and assault, you should have no problem asking for a restraining order. He won't be able to touch you, even when he does get out of prison. You're safe from the likes of him." Weiss smiled at her, assuring her that everything was going to be Ok.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it." Blake smiled back.

Weiss then turned to Ruby with a curious question. "So, if you went out with Blake last night, then what was your sister up to, Ruby? She said you both went out to celebrate your early birthday?" Weiss cocked her hip and waited for an answer, expectantly.

"I told her I wouldn't lie for her..." Ruby muttered. "We went to a strip club. But Yang did nothing but look! I swear!" Ruby tried to explain before Weiss jumped to conclusions.

Weiss shook angrily at her impossible girlfriend, then released a shaky sigh as she tried not to explode just yet. "That better be all she did! She's sleeping on the couch tonight!"

Blake spoke up, trying to understand the situation. Less scared now that the police were here and Adam was being pulled out in cuffs. "So, I guess you're married to her sister then? And she's been caught at the strip club? Ouch." Blake smirked at Weiss' flustered face, thinking she nailed it, but Ruby quickly answered for her best friend.

"They aren't married! Not yet, at least! But I get it, they do seem a lot like a married couple. They fight a lot." Ruby smiled to Blake as she explained, teasing Weiss in the process.

"We do not-Ughh…Shut-up, Ruby!" Weiss stomped the ground and huffed as she knew that Ruby was right.

"Sorry Weiss, but you have to expect this when you date my sister. I get a lot of it from Yang, trust me. Always talking to me about her sex life with you... It's super uncomfortable." Ruby visibly cringed as she thought about all the talks with her sister.

"She does, what?!" Weiss shrieked with wide eyes.

"Uh oh…I don't think Yang's going to like that, hehe…" Ruby rubbed the back of her head, nervous.

"I can't believe her!" Weiss continued to rant on about what she's going to do to Yang when she saw her again, as Blake nudged Ruby's shoulder to gain her attention.

"So, is she always this much fun to mess with, or…?" Blake asked, a smirk on her face.

"Oh, absolutely!" Ruby and Blake chuckled at the expense of the white haired cop.

"Shut-up! Look, do you have a place to stay while this all goes down? We have to keep your apartment under wraps while we investigate. It shouldn't take but a few days before it's clear again. I also doubt you want to stay there any longer after the events that happened." Weiss shouted to interrupt their teasing before going back into serious mode.

"Actually, I already volunteered. She's staying with me." Ruby smiled to Blake, then Weiss, with her mind already made up.

"Oh, I see Ruby. Taken a fancy to her, huh~?" Weiss teased back at seeing the way Ruby looks at Blake.

"Wh-What?! I don't-I mean, I…! Shut-up, Weiss! Don't you have a lecherous wife to deal with?!" Ruby shouted, embarrassed to be outed in front of Blake.

"Sh-she's not my wife! Ughh…!" Weiss huffed again before massaging her temple with her fingers in frustration.

"Wow, this can't get any better." Blake snickered at how easy they are to upset, and how much she's going to enjoy it.

Ruby whimpered at Blake's words, more embarrassed now that Blake knew. Blake chuckled at the reaction, giving her a sideways hug to apologize for the teasing. Ruby quickly melted into it, a smile on her face again.

The EMT's eventually showed and quickly patched Blake and Ruby up. The two girls then got up and went back inside Blake's apartment to get her stuff together for staying a few nights at Ruby's place. Once they were ready, Weiss gave them a ride to Ruby's apartment in her squad car.

"Here we are!" Ruby gestured to the building as they got out. A tall apartment complex that didn't stand out too much. Perfect for a place to hide out from Adam or any of his friends. Weiss waved to Ruby and Blake as she drove off, leaving them to get situated by themselves.

* * *

 **Bam! Adam's a dick! Just like in the show. XD**

 **So you see, over 10k words and not nearly finished with this story. I cut over 1k words at the end, cause I realized at that point that this story is going to be much longer than I originally planned.**

 **That story with Jaune and the stripper was taken from Miles Luna from Rooster Teeth. It was his first experience at a strip club too, so I thought, "That's perfect!" xD**

 **Please tell me what you think in the reviews! Peace!**


	2. A Familiar Setting

**Here's the second chapter of the story! This turned out much longer than originally planned, but I'm not complaining. This turned out to be pretty beautiful.**

 **With that, onto a familiar setting!**

* * *

Part 2: A Familiar Setting

Blake and Ruby arrived on the smaller girl's floor to her apartment complex. She shuffled a few bags of belongings of Blake's in her grasp before pulling out her keys and unlocking the door as they approached it. "Tada!" Ruby mad a gesture to the apartment with her hands as best she could, as her hands were currently full, presenting her living room to the black haired faunus. She then looked back inside and saw what Blake saw. That it was a mess. "Uh…Uh, I don't do a lot of cleaning. And I don't have much company over so…" Ruby sputtered in embarrassment.

Mostly eaten pizza boxes were piled high on the coffee table. Clothes were scattered on the floor and on the back of the couch, as they were tossed haphazardly in any direction when Ruby changed outfits. Dirty dishes, stacked high and in a worrisome manner, within the sink that they couldn't see yet, from the living room. The place was an absolute sty.

Blake interrupted Ruby's tirade of apology with a shrug. "It's fine Ruby. Did you see my place? It didn't fare much better." Blake then walked in after Ruby and sat her bags down on a clean spot next to the couch.

It was around 6 PM now and that gave Blake some time to get situated. She pulled out her tooth brush and other hygiene products and gestured to Ruby with them. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Oh, uh down the hall and on the right. Watch your step!" Ruby hurriedly and embarrassingly warned of the trash and dirty clothes in the wake of her temporary roommate. Blake caught herself as she was just about to step in some unidentifiable black goo stuck to the carpet, and she stepped over it at Ruby's warning. While Blake was busy putting her stuff away in the bathroom, Ruby started to clean the living room rapidly. Taking the pizza boxes outside to the recyclables. She hurried back inside to clear the sink of dishes. She started to clean them one at a time, but as she knew she didn't have time for them all, she stuck the rest of them in an empty cabinet for later, just trying to make the place look cleaner.

Blake came back in from the living room hallway and saw Ruby jumping around the living room and kitchen, cleaning as fast as humanly possible. _'Well, I might as well help her. She is allowing me to stay here.'_

With a small smile, Blake started to help pick up some dirty clothes of Ruby's. "Where do these go?" She asked, not seeing a hamper in the living room, and not wanting to just walk around her apartment looking around for one without Ruby's permission first.

"Oh, Blake! You don't have to do that! You're a guest here." Ruby answered from the kitchen entry way, wanting to see what Blake was talking about. "Uh…Just set them down over there for now." Ruby shrugged, pointing to a random corner of the living room.

Blake nodded and threw them down in a pile. The faunus girl then called out to Ruby from the living room. "I can sleep on the couch tonight."

Ruby came rushing back in from the kitchen, trying to finish up cleaning off the countertops. "No, Blake! You can take my bed! I'll sleep on the couch." Ruby said, wanting to make Blake's stay as comfortable as possible.

"I can't do that, Ruby. This is your place." Blake shook her head, declining the nice offer as she was already encroaching on Ruby's space enough as it was.

"Well, maybe we could sleep together?" Ruby asked innocently, before realizing how that came out, blushing crimson at the suggestion.

Blake just smirked at her offer and brightening cheeks. Instead of taking the easy chance of teasing however, Blake felt like she owed Ruby. "If you're comfortable with that, then that's fine to me, Ruby. Thank you. For this...For dealing with me…"

"It's no problem, Blake. I'm sure you would have done the same for me…" Ruby offered a smile, happy to help someone in need.

Blake returned the smile as best she could, not entirely sure if she would have been able to return the same kindness that Ruby showed her.

"So…It's been quite a while since breakfast. Do you want to get something to eat?" Ruby asked from the kitchen entrance, after recovering from her blush.

"Yeah I could eat again. Today really went by fast, didn't it?" Blake answered after clearing a spot on the couch to sit down.

"Sure did. We spent so long at the diner. Then the…cop situation…" Ruby led off, not wanting to bring up what they just went through, in fear it may upset Blake.

Hearing the hesitance in Ruby's voice, Blake assured her with a smile. "I'm fine, Ruby. He's in jail again." Blake's smile then increased to a smirk. "And I have you to protect me." She laughed as Ruby's face lit up again.

"Not funny, Blake…" Ruby muttered with a pout.

"Who said it was a joke?" Blake asked as she subdued her laugh into a gentle smile. "I've never seen anyone take down Adam that fast before. Where did you learn how to use that Taser anyways?"

"It's actually a stun gun. And my sister and Weiss are kinda protective of me, so they taught me so I could protect myself when they weren't around. Really glad they did, now…"

"Yeah, me too." Blake said with a chuckle as Ruby joined in that time.

"I'll go see what we have to eat. Be right back, Blake." Ruby sent her a warm smile, before she turned around and went back to the kitchen to scrounge something up.

Blake took that moment to get up and walk around the apartment, looking for something to do while Ruby was gone from the living room. She found a bookshelf standing against the living room wall, filled with novels of fantasy and fairytale stories. _'Not a bad collection, "The Two Brothers," "The Man In The Iron Mask,"…-'_ Blake kept skimming through the titles on the spines of the reading material, before being interrupted by Ruby coming back with options.

"Hey, Blake. Would you like-? Oh! You like books, too?!" Ruby paused herself midsentence as she saw Blake perusing her bookshelf, forgetting what she came to ask in the first place as she found yet another trait to like about Blake.

"I do. Have since high school. This is a pretty good collection, Ruby. You must really like fantasy stories." Blake said as she turned around with a smile.

"Th-thanks. It's nothing special. I was the book nerd in my family so a lot of them would get me books for my birthday or Christmas…" Ruby trailed off as she noticed Blake linger on a particular book. "Oh! That one's my favorite! "The Last Hunter" It's about a man who loses everything when his dream is taken away from him. It's sad, but a great read!"

"Hmm…I don't think I've ever heard of it. Mind if I check it out? I could give it back once I'm done of course?" Blake asked, intrigued by the story.

"Yeah, sure! It might be nice to have someone to talk about it with. I don't know too many other people who like the same books as me…" Ruby finished with a mumble, embarrassed to admit she doesn't have many other friends.

Blake smiled softly and picked up the book from the shelf. "Well consider me sold. It sounds interesting."

Ruby looked up to Blake with an ear to ear grin. "Thanks, Blake!" Blake's smile grew as her heart picked up from the cheery beam directed her way.

Blake sat down on the couch again and opened the book, ready to start reading. She looked back up to Ruby though, curiosity on her face. "Ruby, wasn't there something you were about to ask me when you came in?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ruby smashed the bottom of her fist into the open palm of her other hand in remembrance. "Thanks, Blake! I wanted to know if you were Ok with salmon for dinner. It's all I have right now, so... "

Blake's eyes lit up. "S-Salmon sounds great!" Blake blushed at her own outburst and looked down, trying to recompose herself. "Uh…I mean, that's fine."

"Great!" Ruby zoomed back into the kitchen to pull out the salmon and prepare it for herself and her new roommate, only further emboldened by Blake's sudden outburst.

Blake smiled to herself after Ruby left. _'She can cook? And even if it's poorly prepared…Salmon?'_ Blake caught herself before she started to drool over the thought of the future meal and covered her blush with the book in her hands.

* * *

Blake sat in the living room and read the new book while Ruby started to cook for them. After a while Blake started to smell the scent of cooked fish and was lured by it. Putting down her book, Blake walked to the kitchen to see what was making such an overwhelming smell. She saw Ruby placing two plates on the kitchen table that was recently cleaned of dirty dishes and fast food containers.

Ruby noticed Blake enter and looked to her with a soft smile. "Hey, Blake! I guess I don't need to tell you it's ready?" Ruby gestured to the seared salmon with chopped vegetables. Steam rising from the plates.

"This smells amazing, Ruby! How did you make this?" Blake was so focused on the salmon, she barely looked up to Ruby when she asked.

"Well, I learned from my mom." Ruby got embarrassed and scratched her cheek at the praise. "She taught me and my sister to cook. Though, Yang didn't take too well to it." Ruby started to smile again at the memories. "She practically burned down the kitchen once a week!" Ruby finished with a laugh and Blake couldn't help but to join in.

"Well, I can't thank you enough for this. It looks fantastic, Ruby." Blake had to catch herself from drooling again. Having the delectable fish in person was drastically different than just imagining it to the cat faunus…

Ruby batted away at Blake as she took a seat right after her, sitting next to the black haired beauty, embarrassed of all the praise. "Oh, stop! I'm not that great. You should taste my mom's cooking! She's crazy good!"

Without thinking, Blake muttered while staring at the plate before her. "Maybe I will." She then realized, with surprised eyes, what she may have inferred and looked up to Ruby from the salmon she was about to devour. Ruby's eyes were even wider and she was blushing scarlet. "I-I-I meant that, uhm…Shit." Blake face palmed at the slip-up.

Ruby started to smile though, not perturbed by the idea. "Well, I'm sure my mom would be delighted to cook for us if I were to bring you over to meet them some time." Ruby's smile turned to a nervous one, waiting for Blake's response, hoping it was a positive one.

Blake looked up at this from her palm and is now the one blushing. "I-uhm…I-I don't know, Ruby…" She looked down, sullen as her own insecurities probably hurt Ruby. Blake looked back up to see if Ruby really meant the offer, sure that Ruby wouldn't want to show her parents the stripper that she slept with.

While Ruby was frowning a bit, due to the indecision, her eyes were still twinkling in hope that Blake would accept the chance to meet her family. Seeing this, Blake closed her eyes and smiled to herself, not able to resist the cute face. "Yeah… Why not?" She opened her eyes again to see Ruby light up in happiness.

"Yay! You're going to love it, Blake! My parents are super nice. My sister may pester us though. Sorry in advance!" Ruby rambled, starting to twitch as Blake took a bite while still listening to her. "Uhm…Does this mean we're a couple now, if you meet my parents?" Ruby mumbled out.

Blake practically swallowed her fork when she took the bite, not expecting that topic quite yet. Especially from nervous and embarrassed easily, Ruby. She beat her chest and coughed up the bits of food that choked her. Blake looked over to Ruby, checking if she was serious. Ruby's hopeful, albeit worried face, told Blake everything she needed to know.

"Uhm? I…" Blake took a breath and looked back to Ruby. "I don't know? Do you want to be, Ruby?" Blake was genuinely curious. She knew she wanted to spend more time with Ruby, but she couldn't understand why Ruby would want to date her.

Ruby nodded shakily, looking away. "I…I do. I said I liked you when you asked me why I was doing this…I-I thought it was obvious." Ruby muttered, her heart beating frantically as she waited for Blake's answer.

"Well, I didn't think you meant that way. I thought you meant as a friend…" Blake spoke, sadness in her tone, as she shook her head, not understanding why Ruby would be so ready to date a stripper. "Why do you want to be with me? I appreciate it, and I do like you as well, but I strip for a living, Ruby. I'm not going to just suddenly stop, I like doing-…" Blake was about to finish when she was interrupted by the other girl.

"But Blake, I'm not asking you to give it up!" Ruby explained, hurt that Blake thought she would want her to give up her life.

"Really? You're Ok with what I do?" Blake asked, completely skeptical of Ruby's acceptance.

"Y-Yeah. I just want to spend more time with you, Blake." Ruby stuttered as not everything about Blake's job sounded Ok to Ruby, but she didn't want to bring it up in fear it may ruin her chances with her.

Blake smiled, only thinking the stumble was because Ruby thought about Blake at the club. "Thank you, Ruby. For understanding. I like spending time with you too…Maybe we can try it…? Dating, I mean." Blake started to turn pink in the cheeks, barely able to get the words out without messing them up. _'What the hell's wrong with me?'_ Blake thought bitterly, not understanding why she was having such trouble speaking.

Ruby smiled and nodded her head in agreeance. "Yes! Sounds like a plan! I really think we get along well! We talked for so long at the diner. And neither one of us seemed to pay attention to the time going by. Can't wait to see how the second one goes!" Ruby's smile turned to a warm one, staring into Blake's amber orbs.

"We do get along well. I really didn't have very good expectations for the date at first, if I'm being honest, but you surprised me. How you were so funny with your drawings and so nice and caring…and cute~." Blake smirked at Ruby looking down and blushing. Ruby took a couple quick bites of the salmon, trying to get her mind off of what Blake said.

Blake smirk settled into a loving smile as she got the red head's attention again. "Ruby? If you really want to see us work out, I do too. So…I can't give up stripping, because I love doing it, but I can promise to stop sleeping with other people. That's no way to have a healthy relationship. And I just couldn't do that to you…" Blake shook her head.

Ruby took a moment to gather the courage to say what she wanted, not wanting it to sound as selfish as it sounded in her head. "I'm…kinda glad you said that. I…I wouldn't feel very good… Knowing that if you didn't show up one night, it meant you were with someone else…" Ruby looked down, feeling the self-centered thought wash over her anyways and crush her.

Blake took Ruby's hand and it pulled her out of it. "Ruby, that's why I want to do this. It wouldn't feel right, going behind your back like that. I'd be cheating on you. And it's not like I enjoy it all the time. There are moments…When I don't feel very good about myself afterwards…" Blake stopped herself from continuing, not wanting to dump everything out on Ruby so soon, and got back on track. "…So I'll stop. I promise you, Ruby." Blake squeezed her hand to show she meant it and to help put Ruby at ease.

"Th-Thank you, Blake." Ruby mumbled out, smiling as she squeezed in return. Blake smiled back, happy that Ruby was able to smile again.

Ruby looked down at the hand grasping hers and blushed again. All the thoughts about Blake sleeping with people being replaced with thoughts of herself with Blake. The red head shook her head, stopping the blush as best she could, but the effort failed miserably. "W-Well, we should probably finish eating." Ruby started to stuff her face again, putting her mind on the food and that seemed to work better.

Blake giggled quietly to herself, knowing what was causing the other girl to blush. She took that as her que to enjoy the meal along with Ruby, not wanting to tease her anymore with such a wonderful smelling meal in front of her. For now...

* * *

After a few moments of just enjoying the meal, Blake picked up the conversation again. "So, what are your parents like?" She asked after swallowing a bit of seared salmon. It tasted as good as she imagined it did.

Ruby looked up from her plate and smiled, appreciating the topic change. "Well, my mom, Summer, the one that can cook. She's really nice and tends to be a little doting on us. Yang's dad, Taiyang, he's a bit of a goof. He's very protective of us, but he's really nice. And my other mother, the one that me and Yang share, is Raven. She's pretty strict sometimes, but just as caring for all of us." Ruby finished, getting embarrassed, knowing how it sounds that she has 3 parents.

"You have two moms? So you and Yang are half-sisters? But you said that Tai was Yang's father, so who is yours?" Blake asked, confused from the way Ruby talked about it.

Ruby laughed nervously, expecting the questioning, but still not knowing exactly how to answer it. "Yeah…I know it sounds weird and confusing. But how else would you explain my… 'Situation'..." Ruby finished in a small voice, embarrassed to say it. She instead, gestured to her lower half.

"Oh!" Blake exclaimed as she caught on immediately to the gesture. "So you actually have two birth mothers? One…Being the father though?" Blake cocked her head to the side, questioning her own reasoning. At Ruby's gentle nod, Blake continued once she knew she was correct. "That's…yeah that's a little weird." She then shook her head to put Ruby at ease if she were to be offended by the blunt statement. "I'm fine with it though! I don't mind, honestly!"

Blake started to relax as Ruby began to laugh at the usually so composed woman being flustered. "Its fine, I would think it weird, too. But somehow, our family works. We all care for each other. Summer's who I inherited 'it' from. In case you wanted to know."

"I really didn't…" Blake mumbled, laying her head down, still flustered.

Ruby laughed harder, covering her mouth. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you. We can talk about something else if you want?"

Blake raised her head again, smiling back to Ruby, thankful to talk about something else. "Well, you can ask a question now, if you want?" Blake gestured for Ruby to ask away.

"Ok…Um…When did you and Adam happen?" Ruby shakes her hands, showing she's sorry. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to! I was just curious." Ruby twitched in her seat, nervous to upset Blake.

"Alright…Well, you shared with your family, I might as well share with mine…" Blake's face turned somber and she looked off into nowhere, thinking. "We were best friends, growing up. Inseparable. There wasn't a time I can remember when Adam wasn't there in the past. We both grew up together as orphans at the same orphanage. My parents didn't care about me and neither did his about him." Blake looked over to Ruby at the sound of sniffles and saw she was crying.

"I'm sorry, Blake! I didn't mean to dredge up things! I was busy talking about how great my parents are…I'm such an idiot!" Ruby apologized, covering her face as she beat herself up for hurting Blake.

Blake reached over to grab her shoulder though, wanting to calm her down. "It's Ok, Ruby. I'm not upset. I dealt with this a long time ago. Besides, it doesn't matter anymore. My parents are dead now anyways…" Blake had an angry glint in her eyes as she looked away from Ruby, thinking how she never even got the chance to meet them. The anger was a clear sign that she never even wanted to. It would have just been better closure for her if she did.

"I'm sorry, Blake." Ruby hugs her, trying to cheer her up, even though she's the one crying.

' _Pitiful…'_ Blake thought with a smile as she looked to Ruby in her arms. A reverse from earlier, when Adam was there and Ruby was comforting Blake. "Maybe we should stop for now…" Blake said softly to Ruby, as she slid her hand through the girl's black and crimson hair to comfort her.

After a few beats like this, Ruby let out a quiet, 'Ok' as she pulled back from Blake, reluctantly, her tears drying up. She got up from the table and began to put the dishes away.

Not wanting to leave Ruby alone with the dishes after crying in her arms, Blake decided to help, giving the girl a swift smile as she stood next to her at the sink. The smile worked, as Ruby picked up her own, happy to just have Blake beside her.

In the middle of washing the dishes in comfortable silence together, Ruby's phone went off to disrupt it. She picked it up from her pocket, after drying her hands, and headed to her bedroom to talk to the person she recognized, telling Blake it would just be a second. Blake gave the shy girl a nod, continuing to clean the kitchen.

Ruby closed the door behind her as she entered the bedroom, before putting the phone to her ear. "What's up, Yang?" Ruby asked, cheerfully, like the earlier moment crying into Blake's shoulder didn't happen.

"Well, I heard that you have a certain **panther** staying at you apartment. What's going on, sis? Did the date go that well~?" Yang asked her little sister. She started to laugh on her end when she heard Ruby mutter, 'damn Weiss not being able to shut-up!'

"Huhh…Yes she's staying over. Not that that's any of your business! She doesn't have a place to stay otherwise. I'm sure Weiss told you what happened?" Ruby shouted at her sister through the phone. wondering if Weiss did actually leave out everything else, just to mess with her.

"She did. And I'm proud of you sis. That's a really nice thing you did for her." Yang answered, speaking seriously. She then continued with an audible grin as she picked on her sister. "Unless you were wanting something back in return~?"

"Sh-Shut-up! Yang, you don't get to say anything! You started all this!" Ruby got flustered, angry that her sister would pick on her for something she caused.

"I did, and you're welcome!" Yang laughed at Ruby's childish pout through the phone.

"Not funny, Yang!" Ruby reprimanded her sister, tired of all the teasing she received by her today.

"Sorry, sorry." Yang apologized with a smile, not an ounce of sincere-ness behind it for just messing with her like always. "So, what happened?"

Ruby sighed again, knowing her sister will just continue to pester her for details if she didn't spill. "The date went very well…I asked her if she wanted me to walk her home and she said yes." Ruby was then cut off by Yang.

"See, told you, you might like her~." Yang's voice sang through the phone in an 'I-told-you-so' voice.

"Not the point, Yang!" Ruby yelled before shaking her head, trying to continue. "Anyways… When we got to her place, her ex was there to hurt her. So I used the stun gun on him that you and Weiss gave me. I then called the police and Weiss showed up. They took the bastard away, but Blake still needs a place to stay while the police check the house for damage and a sign of forced entry, stuff like that. Weiss told us."

"So have you two boned again, yet?" Yang broke through the serious conversation to tease again.

"Yaaaaaang!?" Ruby shrieked. "Please, stop!" She could hear Yang's laughter through the phone as Yang held it away from her person to grab her sides in mirth. Ruby then heard someone else yell at Yang from the phone. She heard a slap followed by Yang giving a shout of pain.

"Oww! I'm sorry, Weiss! I was just messing with her!" Yang plead, holding her slapped arm.

Ruby heard her friend Weiss come back in the background to answer her. "I don't care, Yang! I don't like hearing you say such vulgar things!"

"I don't ever hear you complaining in bed~?" Yang's smirk could be heard through the phone as she teased her girlfriend. Which is soon taken off her face as another slap is heard right next to the phone.

"Not in front of your sister, you moron!" Weiss shrieked again, giving Yang another slap to the face for good measure. Seeing that the conversation was over at this point, Ruby just hangs up, sighing at her best friend and sister's antics together.

* * *

Ruby put her phone on the nightstand to charge and then made her way back to the kitchen to see Blake just finishing up on cleaning. The panther faunus turned to see Ruby come back in and noticed a miserable expression on her face.

"Hey, Ruby. What was that about?"

"Just my idiot sister and Weiss." Ruby huffed out a heavy breath at all crazy stuff she's had to put up with today and the years she known those two as a couple.

"The cop, right? So what's the story with them? How did a cop fall for…from what I saw last night, a delinquent?" Blake asked, puzzled by the odd coupling.

"Well…wait, what did Yang do last night?" Ruby interrupted herself to learn what her sister did to make her appear as a criminal.

"Well, after me and you were leaving to go to my place, I saw her trying to get on stage, shouting something about being the hottest one here and wanting to prove it. She was pretty drunk, and strong. The bouncers were having a tough time pulling her down." Blake answered, both of them taking a seat on the couch to talk. She was smiling, amused by the sight of such a drunk idiot.

"Oh my Oum, that's perfect! Thanks, Blake. I have some more dirt on my sister. Weiss would flip if she heard that!" Ruby became giddy at being able to shut Yang up when she teased her again.

"So she's whipped that bad, huh?" Blake asked with a smirk on her face.

"Like you wouldn't believe! The mere mention of Weiss will stop her from doing something if you think it's too much." Ruby said, laughing along with Blake.

"Good to know." After they came down from their laughing, Blake became intrigued to know more about this impossible couple. "So how did they meet?"

"Well, they met officially during high school athletics for basket ball. They were both really competitive, so at first, they practically hated each other!" Ruby said with a laugh. " Eventually though, being part of a team made them work together, and once that happened they realized how well they complimented each other. At least, Yang did..." Ruby wore a playful grin as she recounted how absolutely smitten her sister was once she started getting to know Weiss.

"...Weiss, on the other hand, didn't really change all that much, and it drove my sister crazy with how neutral Weiss treated her. Just another member of the team! Yang wouldn't accept that, though." Ruby said with a head shake, pitying her past sister. "She spent over a year trying to get Weiss to go out with her. She started out subtle, well, subtle for Yang, but every attempt was met with an immediate rejection." Ruby paused to get more comfortable on the couch. Blake turned her body towards Ruby, getting most of her leg on the furniture and leaning her head on her arm from the back of the couch.

"You see, Weiss was pretty popular in high school and had so many guys clamoring after her. Once Yang started for-real hitting on her, Weiss treated her as all the other guys and it broke her heart. It took seeing Yang finally done with all the rejection to make Weiss see she was serious." Ruby was stopped as Blake chimed in, enthralled by the story.

"Oh no. What did blondie do, Cry?" Blake asked with a smirk, thinking of a heartbroken Yang.

"No!" Ruby burst out laughing. "She wrote, 'I Love Weiss Schnee!' on the side of the school! She even signed her name under it, the idiot! She got suspended for 3 weeks after that. But Weiss finally understood how much she meant to Yang." Blake joined in on the laughing.

"They were dating by the end of the day. And they have been together ever since." Ruby said, finishing the story as they both calmed down from their laughing fits.

* * *

Mirth in both of their smiles, Blake, stared into Ruby's silver eyes as Ruby stared back, happiness radiating from her eyes. Blake was lost in the way those shimmering orbs seemed to express so much care and joy as they were pointed at her. She didn't know when she leaned in to take Ruby by the cheek, pulling her into a kiss, her body just seemed to move on its own accord, but as Ruby pressed herself into the swift kiss, humming lowly as she felt Blake's soft lips against her own, the faunus smiled into the tender lip-locking, wanting more.

Blake prodded her tongue against Ruby's lips, asking for entrance. Ruby opened up and her tongue was already there to greet hers. As their tongues clashed inside Ruby's mouth, Blake started to lean into Ruby and pushed the smaller girl onto her back. Ruby's head laid against the arm rest of the couch, as her hands trail down Blake's sides, ending on her ass. Blake's right knee moved in between Ruby's legs, brushing up against her core below her hardening member, as she got closer to the unbelievably sweet girl below her.

"Ahhhh…Blake…" Ruby whined at the friction, breaking the kiss and clenching her hands on Blake's pillow like ass like a vice. Blake reached down to feel the bulge in Ruby's pants, arcing her back as the grabbing of her ass causes her to lose her breath momentarily.

Ruby needed to stop this though, as she felt Blake touching her, and gently pushed on her shoulders. "Wait, Blaaaake." Ruby whined out her name as Blake started to stroke her through her pants. "Stop…Hah-please." She begged as she stared into Blake's lust filled eyes.

Both of them were breathing harder now. From the kiss, and the feelings of being so close to one another. "What…is it Ruby?" Blake took a deep breath, trying to even out her breathing, as she took her hand away and moved back, looking to Ruby, worried.

Ruby took the opportunity of Blake giving her space to sit up again, before she started to speak. "I just…Don't think we should…" Ruby swallowed, from her need to take in more air, and from fear that Blake wouldn't like what she had to say. "…Go any further right now. We just started dating…" Ruby looked down as she finished in a mousy voice.

"That didn't really stop us last night though…" Blake smiled at her own small joke, before growing serious again as Ruby wasn't able to look back at Blake again. "…Ruby?"

"That wasn't me though, Blake! I don't do that sort of thing… If I wasn't drunk that night, it never would have happened… D-Don't get me wrong, though! I'm really glad it did happen. But I just don't want to rush this. I don't want to rush us…" Ruby's eyes were pleading of Blake to not get upset as she would try and fail to make eye contact with the girl across from her many times.

Blake closed her eyes and sighed with a smile, her head lowering down as she thought for a moment.

Ruby's heartbeat was pulsing in her ears as she waited apprehensively for Blake's answer. It was only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity to Ruby before Blake came to a decision.

The black haired girl suddenly opened her eyes and looked up, a smile still on her face as she looked at Ruby. "Ok. We can hold off for a while. I don't mind… But I want you to know I'm going to keep trying~." Blake smirked as the way she phrased it was picked up by the smaller girl.

Ruby blushed a bit, but still smiled back, not totally perturbed by the idea. "I would hope you do keep trying."

"Oh, really~? Can we continue where we left off then?" Blake asked with a tone of lust, as she touched Ruby's cheek again.

"S-Sure…" Ruby answered lamely, but her reaction was not, as she circled her arms around Blake's neck and pulled her closer to kiss once more. Ruby moaned into Blake's lips as she leaned back again, pulling the taller girl down with her.

Having the lead position again, Blake doesn't move her hands below Ruby's waist this time. Instead she pressed into Ruby, deepening the kiss and occasionally brushing her hands over Ruby's pale stomach as she moved the girl's shirt up to feel her closer.

Ruby's right hand drifted down from Blake's neck to her chest, grabbing her breast and squeezing it lightly. Blake broke the kiss and pushed her body into the hand on her chest.

Blake moaned silently, as Ruby started to kiss her neck, then looked down to her with a smirk. "I thought you said not to rush?" Blake asked, not mad in the slightest.

Ruby moved her hand away immediately, not even realizing what she was doing before Blake said anything. "S-Sorry. I just…wanted to." Ruby mumbled out as she got embarrassed. Blake just smiled at her fumbling and kissed her again. It only lasted a few brief moments, but it was filled with love.

Blake pulled back with a giggle. "Apology accepted."

Ruby smiled back, happy she wasn't really mad at the hypocritical actions, albeit it with a small blush at being caught.

"I think we should probably start to get ready for bed. I still need to go to the station tomorrow to answer some questions and file for that restraining order." Blake said as she got up from the couch.

Ruby, still a little light headed from the make out session, just nodded as Blake walked to the bathroom to shower. Both were thinking the same thing, though. _'I need a cold shower.'_

* * *

After a while Ruby got up as well, having to wait for her body to 'relax', and gathered her night clothes in her room for when Blake got out of the shower. She also picked out some bigger clothes, more fitting of Yang, for Blake as well, in case the faunus wanted to borrow some to sleep in.

Once Ruby was ready and heading towards the hallway, she heard the bathroom door open and out stepped a naked Blake. Her hair was toweled up, but nothing else clothed her gorgeous body.

Ruby's eyes widened at the sight and Blake smirked at the eyes not leaving her naked body. _'She did say she would keep trying...'_ Ruby gulped, not knowing how long she could resist with this level of temptation.

Blake walked over to her, seeing Ruby's hands twitching as she held two sets of clothes. "You should've know that I sleep naked after this morning, Ruby." Blake laughed as the shorter girl blushed and tore her eyes away from the tempting sight. "It's much more comfortable. You should try it sometime~." Blake said in a seductive tone.

Ruby gulped again, putting her head down and charging past Blake and into the bathroom. "You can't make me!" She screamed over her shoulder as she ran away from the tantalizing conflict.

Blake laughed at the reaction as she watched Ruby sprint to the bathroom door and quickly close it behind her. "So cute…"

Ruby jumped in the shower and turned it all the way on cold, freezing herself. As the water hit her body, she shivered, finally from something else besides Blake's seductive voice. _'Gah…Why does she do this?'_ Ruby groaned as she banged her head against the wall of the shower in defeat of the seductive woman just in the other room. The heat from earlier was slowly washing away as it was replaced with the chill from the ice cold water rolling down her back.

* * *

When Ruby got out, she dried off and put her clothes on. She nervously walked out of the bathroom, fearful for what she would see next from the other woman now living with her. She closed her eyes as she walked in her own room, slowly opening one to see what Blake had in store for her.

Blake was on her phone, checking a text from someone. Her hair was still up in a towel, but her body laid under the covers of the bed.

Ruby released her breath, expelling the worry from her body as Blake seemed to have stopped for now.

Blake looked up from her phone, at Ruby entering, and put it aside. "Hey. I was just checking with my boss about my schedule for tomorrow. I could take tomorrow off after what happened with Adam, but I decided against it. I think it will help me move past it if I just get back to work." Blake explained, before adopting a curious expression as her eyebrow raised, wondering why Ruby looked so clenched up as she entered the bedroom.

Ruby had changed after her shower and was now wearing a black tank top and shorts to sleep in. The red head was just making herself as small as possible before she saw Blake, then just seemed to relax.

"What's wrong?"

"I was just…expecting another attempt…" Ruby muttered looking away, a blush crawling up her face.

Blake huffed in humor. "I'm done for the night, Ruby. You don't have to worry. Come on." Blake gestured for Ruby to get in bed with a pat and a pleasant smile.

Ruby smiled along and obliged, moving closer to the bed as Blake scooted over to give Ruby some room in the full-sized bed. She caught a glimpse of Blake's 'assets' from when the covers shifted, and Ruby paused her steps with the blush coming back.

Blake rolled her eyes at seeing what caused the hold up. "Ruby, it's not something you haven't seen before." Blake took off the towel from her head and threw it at Ruby's face for being such a prude, her hair mostly dry by now.

Ruby yelped at the momentary blindness before removing the towel smelling of lavender. Ruby then took the towel and dried her hair off better before getting in bed, not wanting to get the pillows wet. Mumbling into the towel around her head, Ruby answered as she paused right beside the bed. "I know. But that doesn't mean I'm used to it yet. I don't see too many naked girls in person…"

"Well we'll just have to fix that, won't we~?" Blake pulled Ruby towards her and into the bed, the towel still on her head. Blake held her closely as Ruby squirmed around, not able to see what happened.

"Blake? Blake? What's going on?" Ruby panicked, trying to get out to remove the towel and free her vision.

"Calm down Ruby. I'm just cuddling with you. I said you were cute and you're definitely proving me right..." Blake kissed the back of her neck softly and Ruby shivered from the contact.

"Haa…Ok. Just…Let me get this towel off…" Ruby whimpered out, before Blake let go, conceding to the adorable girl lying in front of her. Ruby pulled off the towel and felt Blake right behind her, still mostly under the covers, and a hand – sending a gentle tingle down her body -placed on her hip.

Ruby slowly relaxed into the touch, turning to Blake as the girl repositioned herself against Ruby's shoulder, resting her head there. Ruby melted into the cuddle, as she pulled the covers up to shield them from the cold night air, and she wraped an arm around Blake at her side.

The red head then reached over with her other hand and turned off the light to her nightstand, submerging the room in darkness, but for a streak of subtle moonlight that peered through the curtains.

Blake cuddled closer to Ruby with the girl's arm around her, relishing the moment and sighing in content as she shut her eyes, feeling safe and snug with Ruby holding her.

Ruby then softly spoke up through the silence that filled the room, after getting comfortable herself. "Do you want to come see my sister's car shop tomorrow? After you go to the station, if you want. I don't mind either way…" Ruby timidly asked, realizing that Blake was currently trying to fall asleep.

"Yeah… That's fine…I get to see this new car of yours too, huh?" Blake answered quietly into Ruby's neck as she left another soft kiss there for a bit of punishment for not letting her sleep.

Ruby whimpered again at the gentle lips on her neck, but continued as she remembered her car suddenly. "Oh, yeah. That's right. It's so cool, Blake. You're going to love it!" Ruby whisper-yelled in her excitement, keeping it to a minimum, for Blake's sake.

"Well, that has to wait for tomorrow, Ruby. We should get some sleep." Blake yawned as she finished explaining, truly tired from all that happened today. She snuggled closer to Ruby and her ears twitched as they rubbed up against Ruby's jawline.

"Yeah, good night, Blake." Ruby said softly as she kissed Blake on the top of her head, between the silk-like soft kitty ears.

"Night, Ruby."

* * *

Ruby woke up the next morning, in her bed this time. She sighed in relief of not having another loss in memory. The artist peered down, and in her arms was Blake, still next to her. She released a warm smile to herself, at the sight, and cuddled further into the faunus, kissing her cheek in good morning.

Blake mumbled irritably and buried her head further into Ruby's arm at the contact.

' _Clearly, she wasn't lying about being a night person.'_ Ruby thought as she started to kiss her more, trying to wake her in the gentlest way imaginable.

Blake finally relented and opened her eyes, about to punch this annoying slob for kissing her all over her face like some puppy. _'I hate dogs…'_ But once she saw Ruby, she was glad she didn't follow through with it. A smile grew on her face after waking to the warmth of Ruby still holding her. "Morning…" She whispered out, still tired.

"Morning!" Ruby shouted, not picking up on the social que from her girlfriend that she wanted to keep things quiet.

"Sucha morning person…" Blake mumbled to herself with a smile still on her face, and rose up on her arms to sit down on the bed.

The action caused the covers to come down off of Blake's naked body to show the room what she's got. The only audience, being Ruby, blushed and struggled to look away.

Blake flicked her on the nose for being such a prude again. "Hey. You need to get used to this. You said you wanted to try right?" Ruby nodded shakily as she forced herself to keep eye contact with Blake.

"Well, then this is something that will happen a lot. I'm not exactly ashamed to walk around the place naked, especially when the only one seeing me is the one I'm with. So get used to it." As Blake said this, she leaned closer to Ruby and presented her breasts, pressing them together with her biceps.

"Ok, Ok! I get it!" Ruby sputtered as she closed her eyes and shook her head.

Blake leaned back up with a victorious grin, her smirk basically audible to Ruby.

The embarrassed girl released a sigh and looked back to Blake and her breasts, trying to get used to seeing them with a determined look on her face. Ruby of course, as expected, started to blush scarlet, not able to help herself. What wasn't expected though, was Blake getting embarrassed from Ruby constantly staring.

"A-Alright, Ruby. I think that's enough for now." Blake stuttered as she looked away and made her way off the bed, her back to Ruby. Ruby got confused as to why she suddenly turned away, but didn't ask as Blake continued before her. "So do you want to tag along with me to the police station this morning? I could use the company, if you don't mind?" Blake asked, after getting her blush under control.

Blake got up out of bed and moved to her bag of clothes, getting dressed for the morning. She rattled her head at the ridiculous notion of her being embarrassed about Ruby seeing her naked, as she waited for a response.

"Yeah I can go. I don't really have a schedule to work for my sister. I just…Come inside whenever…" Ruby said, as her eyes drifted over Blake's bent-over backside.

At the phrasing, Blake looked over to Ruby still under the covers. She saw her staring at her ass, and smirked. "Oh, yeah? Care to demonstrate~?" She asked seductively, knowing it's going to make Ruby stammer on her words.

Ruby shook her head and blushed at being caught staring and her messed up phrasing. "I-I-I didn't mean that! I swear! Mmhmmmh…" Ruby whined and twitched in embarrassment as Blake laughed at her.

The raven haired girl turned back around as she continued putting on her underwear, slipping on a fresh pair of panties to put an end to Ruby's bane of words.

After snapping herself out of it with a sigh of relief, Ruby got up from the bed and shuffled her way to her closet to put on new clothes, getting ready for the day as well.

* * *

The pair eventually made their way out the door and onto the street, walking to Ember Celica's first to see if they can use Ruby's car to make the trip to the station easier and more comfortable.

As they approached, they could already hear the torque wrench going off rapidly, Yang's shop still busy as ever. Ruby then remembered Blake's faunus hearing and apologized for the noise, sorry that she asked for her to come to such a place.

"Don't worry about it Ruby. You did say it was a car shop. I should have expected that. Maybe I can wait in the store front, instead of going inside the garage…?" Blake pleaded with her girlfriend, not liking the noise level already.

Ruby happily nodded in acceptance, easily agreeing with Bake as her ears were already lying flat to her scalp.

Ruby opened the door to the front of the shop and saw a brunette at the front, manning the register for customers. The other girl wore a red shirt and yellow jacket with ripped up blue jeans. Her light brown hair was down to her mid back, and was a bit on the short side, even to Ruby.

"Hey, Mango!" The artist greeted the cashier cheerfully, sending her a wave as she approached with Blake behind her.

"Hello, Ruby! Who's the friend?" Mango welcomed back, with a questioning, but gentle, gaze directed at Blake.

"Oh, uh? This is…my…Girlfriend…" Ruby got out quietly, with a pink blush slowly lighting her face.

Blake subtly rolled her eyes at Ruby and smiled at the other girl behind the counter of the mechanic shop. "Hey there, my name's Blake Belladonna." Blake decided to greet her with her full name, a smirk building on her face, knowing that Ruby didn't know it yet.

Before Mango could greet back, Ruby cut in, just like the faunus intended. "I didn't know your last name! I'm so stupid for not asking!" Ruby face-palmed with both hands, feeling dumber than ever.

Blake's smirk persisted, loving how easy it was to tease Ruby.

Mango chimed in on the discussion, a mirthful smile on her face as well. "How have you not asked her, her last name yet, Ruby? Did you just start going out or something?"

"Actually, yes, we did." Blake answered with humor in her eyes as she continued to hold back her laughter at the situation.

"Oh!" Mango's eyes lit up in understanding and she looked away for a second, embarrassed at the misstep. "Well, sorry about that, I didn't know. If you don't know hers, it's…" Mango apologized quickly as she looked back at Ruby's girlfriend, wanting to give her Ruby's last name as an apology, but before she could say, Ruby interrupted her with a shout.

"My last name is Rose!" Ruby got out as fast as she could to stop Mango before she ruined her chance to tell Blake herself. "Mangooo! I obviously wanted to be the one to tell her that!" Ruby whined to her friend, upset as it was almost ruined.

"Sorry, Ruby. You're right, you should be the one to tell her that. My bad." Mango laughed at Ruby's pout, before putting her hands on the counter, ready to help the two in whatever way she could. "Well, what are you here for? Getting some work done? Or showing her around?"

"Showing her around some, but we can do that later." Ruby shook her head in the negative, as her face settled to her general bubbly smile. "I'm here to see if Yang can give me the keys to my new Camaro!" Ruby said, giddy with anticipation, practically jumping in place.

"That's right! That new one! Your sister is the best, you know?" Mango said, as she got excited with her.

"She is pretty great. I just wish she wouldn't tease me so much!" Ruby softly complained, rubbing the back of her head.

"She does it out of love, Ruby. You know that." Mango gently chided with a smile, before continuing. "Anyways, your sister is already in the shop with your car. Go right ahead." Mango said, gesturing to the door connecting the front office space with the garage.

Ruby bobbed her head at the information, knowing she's right. "I know. Thanks, Mango." Ruby then turned to Blake, a half smile on her face, as the cat faunus looked reluctant at making the journey into the loud machine shop. "I'll be right back. I'll pull the car up front if it's ready."

"Sure thing." Blake nodded to her girlfriend, as Ruby walked over to the garage entrance with a wave.

* * *

Ruby walked into the blaring garage filled with tools and vehicles of all shapes and sizes, and saw Yang working with Sun on the engine of a truck. Ruby ran over and hugged Yang from behind, making sure not to get grease on her shirt, having done this enough times to know to actively avoid it.

"Hey, sis!" Yang chirped, knowing that Ruby would be the only one to hug her in the middle of work. She made sure not to hug back with her grime covered hands, just a kiss on the top of Ruby's head in greeting as she turned around to see her.

"Hey, Yang! Hey, Sun! I was wondering if my car was ready yet." Ruby waved to Sun before looking back to Yang with an excited demeanor.

"I see you really want to drive it, huh?" Sun said as he smiled at her hyper-activeness.

"You bet! Oh, right! Also, Blake is here. We should probably hurry. She needs to be at the police station soon." Ruby explained in a rush, remembering that she wasn't alone.

"Station?! What did she do?" Sun asked astonished that a girl that Ruby picked would be a criminal.

"Nothing! She's there to get a restraining order made and answer questions about her ex!" Ruby explained with wide eyes as she realized how that sounded without context.

"Who's the restraining order for though, you?" Yang joked at Ruby's expense as she and Sun chuckled.

"Yaaaaaaang! Is the car ready or not?!" Ruby whined, not in the mood for more teasing.

Yang laughed harder and shook her head at the outburst, before patting her little sister on the head. "You're too easy to upset, Rubes. And yeah. I have the paperwork in the car already, so just sign it and bring it back to me, and it's all yours."

"Thanks, Yang!" Ruby does a 360 with her emotions as she's happy again. She ran over to the car and opened it up, hopping in the driver seat. She saw the paper work and the keys already in the ignition, waiting for her, like her sister said.

* * *

Blake was just chatting with Mango about how Ruby and Blake met, while waiting for Ruby to show back up. Mango was a bit apprehensive about it at first, but thought it sweet how Ruby saved her from her crazy ex by the end of it.

Suddenly they heard the engine of a V8 Camaro roar to life as it came out of the garage and parked outside the front door, revving loudly as the person behind the wheel tested the sound of the engine. The driver honked and Blake knew it was Ruby by the presentation. She walked to the door, waving bye to Mango as they both knew it was Ruby ready to pick Blake back up.

The panther walked outside and saw the driver side door swing open and close as Ruby stepped out, smiling like it's her happiest day ever.

"Blake! Isn't she amazing?!" Ruby yelled over the rumbling of the engine.

The black and red of the new Camaro accented the sleekness of its design, and the art from Ruby's work of the dragon and albino tiger popped out from the background of red on the driver side door.

"She?!" Blake yelled back, having trouble communicating over the sports car.

"Yeah! I named her Crescent Rose! She's my baby!" Ruby laughed, rubbing the top of the car with her hand, so happy she finally had her dream car.

Blake leaned on the top of the passenger side of the car and crossed her arms. "Oh? She's your baby, huh!?" Her tone was filled with anger, only further expressed with the way she had to yell it over the noise, as she gave Ruby a glare.

"I-I didn't mean that I like her more! Please Blake! I wasn't serious!" Ruby shook her head back and forth and waved her arms in front of herself, showing she didn't mean it that way.

Blake removed her glare and replaced it with an easy smile, as she let up on the teasing. "I know, Ruby. I'm just messin' with you. Mind unlocking the door so I can get in?"

Ruby groaned, but recovered quickly at the prospect of being able to drive her car for the first time, with Blake even... "Yeah! Let's go!" Ruby pressed the button on the side of the car door and the passenger side door unlocked for Blake with a click. When Blake got in and buckled up, Ruby hit the gas - after she followed in Blake's footsteps - and they zoomed out of the parking lot and down to the precinct to help Blake finally be done with Adam.

Ruby enjoyed the purr of the engine from her new car as she flew down the street, holding the stick shift with her right hand. She briefly looked down as another hand soon fell on her own.

The proud owner of Crescent Rose smiled as she looked up to see her girlfriend smiling back at her from the passenger seat. Ruby reluctantly looked back at the road, so they didn't crash. Too caught up in seeing Blake's night sky black hair blowing behind her as the window was cracked, allowing for the air to flow through the car at how fast they were going down the highway. It was a breathtaking sight to see, as Blake tucked some of her locks behind her ear and out of her face as she sent Ruby a wink, who kept blinking back and forth from the road and Blake beside her.

Everything about this moment felt so right, as they both headed to a new chapter in their lives, together. Bake locked her fingers with Ruby's on the stick shift as Ruby switched to third, cruising down the street in the car she always wanted, with the girl she never knew she wanted. She knew now, though. Blake made everything in Ruby's life pop with her in it. She felt her feelings for the panther faunus growing every minute spent with her. And even though it was a little scary how quickly she became attached to Blake, she wouldn't want it any other way. Neither of them did. And not Adam, Ruby's special member, or Blake's job was going to get in the way of that.

* * *

 **Two more chapters left! And now they're together!**

 **That book at Ruby's house that Blake came across and read a bit was a nod to Foxinstrazt's black rose fanfic, "The Last Huntress". It's really good, definitely recommend giving it a go!**

 **Thanks for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed something from it, and please don't forget to leave a review if you would! I really enjoy hearing what people have to say! Peace!**


	3. Family Matters

**Time for Blake to meet Ruby's parents! Other things happen as well, like a time skip. I marked it to make the transition obvious though, don't worry, I'm not that sloppy! :p**

* * *

Chapter 3: Family Matters

"Ruby, come on! We're going to be late!" Blake shouted to her girlfriend, who was busy getting ready for their dinner plans in the bathroom of the small apartment.

4 Months had passed since Blake and Ruby met due to the latter's sister's meddling. Blake never did leave Ruby's apartment when the red head invited her. There was no need to, as they grew closer as a couple and more comfortable with living together. Even after Blake's apartment was cleared of policemen and all the hassle that they brought on, she still wanted to live with Ruby. And Ruby, being Ruby, was ecstatic to hear it.

"Almost done! Aaaand…done!" Ruby chirped as she stepped out of their bathroom. She was just recently applying make-up for their big date, which took her a while. Ruby always hated putting on make-up. It was such a hassle for her as she rarely had a reason to apply it in the first place. But from Blake's expression, it had the desired effect.

As Ruby stepped out of the bathroom, Blake turned around at her girlfriend's call and was blown away by the display. Ruby didn't wear make-up often, but after seeing her like this, Blake really wanted to talk her into doing it more often.

Ruby didn't wear so much as to cake it on. She never needed to. Her natural beauty was always enough, but the light make-up that Ruby applied brought out her facial features to the forefront. She used deep black eye shadow that made her silver eyes pop right out at Blake, drawing her into them. She used some light blush to bring out her cheek bones to show the maturity that she always hides in her childish actions. Finally, her lipstick was a tantalizing dark red. Blake's eyes settled on those lips once she was finally able to pull away from the silver beacons. And that was where they stayed, as she was speechless, standing in front of Ruby, unblinking.

"Blake…? Bla-aake?" Ruby called out as she waved her hand in front of Blake's face to snap her out of it. It worked, as the faunus finally blinked since Ruby stepped out, but Blake couldn't resist as she leaned towards those luscious lips and pulled the smaller girl into herself. "Mmmmh…! Mmmh…" Ruby yelped into Blake's mouth, surprised, but quickly melted right into the kiss as she pressed back into her, arms gently laid on her waist.

As Blake pulled back, she couldn't stop looking into Ruby's eyes. Those big silver orbs that were filled with so much joy and innocence. She had fun tainting that innocence. "You look beautiful…" Blake gave a small smile as she spoke. It wasn't very original, but it was the only thing to come to mind at the moment.

Ruby gave a short giggle at the words, before replying in kind. "Thanks…You're pretty easy on the eyes as well." Ruby said in a soft voice as she traced her eyes over Blake's figure.

Blake was currently wearing a long sleeve black and white T-shirt with black skinny jeans that accented her back side perfectly. Draped over her arm, was a night sky-black parka, ready to go for the chilly weather outside, as it was early December and the happy couple had a place to be shortly.

"A-Any chance we can just… skip dinner?" Blake asked, stuttering from impatience, in a low voice, suggesting very fun times. Seeing Ruby done up like this made her think of how good she would look without those clothes on.

Ruby's current clothes were a bit nicer than what she usually wore. That being a red hoodie and ripped up jeans, for comfortability. Now however, she was wearing a black bolero jacket over a red dress shirt. Her lower half was sporting a red skirt just above her knees with thick black leggings for the cold. On her feet were flats, as she hated wearing heels and Blake understood this.

Blake never pushed the issue, because Ruby was plenty tall already, at 5'8 to her 5'10. It also helped that Blake never liked heels either, only wearing them on special occasions or when her performances at the strip club required her to.

Ruby could feel her girlfriend undressing her with her eyes as she still held her closely. She smiled, blushing slightly at the attention. The cheery girl then cupped Blake's cheek with her right hand and rubbed it lovingly with her thumb as she answered her needy question. "You know my parents want to meet you. I want them to meet you too." Ruby gave her a small kiss after she finished explaining, giggling as Blake followed her lips as she pulled back, asking for more action.

Ruby smirked to herself, as her time in the bathroom seemed to really pay off better than she expected. "My…This look is really doing it for you, huh?"

Blake returned the smile as she licked her lips subtly. "You have no idea…" She said with a shake of her head, both girls soon chuckling in splendor.

"I want to meet them too. I'm just glad Weiss was able to convince Yang not to come. She wanted so badly to be able to screw with us in front of your parents. So we owe her bigtime." Blake said as she finally released Ruby, only to grab her hand as they started to walk to the door, snatching the keys to Crescent Rose on the way.

"Maybe…Or maybe I already payed the favor back…" Ruby said as she took the keys from Blake and turned around to lock the door after exiting.

Blake turned to Ruby, smirking at the way that sounded. "If you did sexual favors for the ice queen, I'm going to be so disappointed in you, you hypocrite!"

They both started to laugh on their way down the stairs, Ruby slapping Blake's arm for being terrible, and Blake snickering at her own dirty joke, not bothered by the slap in the slightest.

"Blake! You're horrible!" Ruby snickered along with her black haired love, joy in both her eyes and voice. "It's actually a surprise, the favor I mean. Not for you though, she told me I could tell you. She's doing it tonight actually!" Ruby rambled, exuberant with the news.

Blake gave her a strange look, not having the slightest clue, as she made her confusion audible. "What are you talking about?"

Ruby giggled again, before telling her in the happiest voice she could muster. "Weiss is proposing! She asked me what I thought and I told her to go for it! She's taking Yang out for us tonight so she can propose and we get Yang off our backs! It's a win-win!"

Blake's eyes went wide with disbelief. She looked forward, down the steps, processing the news slowly. "So the straight and narrow cop, Weiss Schnee, is going to finally collar the beast known as Yang Xiao Long? I think we should sell tickets." Blake said with a comical smile.

Ruby smirked and cracked a joke of her own in return, having not only gotten used to Blake's sense of humor, but adopting it a bit into her own. It also helped that her girlfriend's sense of humor was similar to her sister's. "Not so straight anymore, though!" They both shared a laugh as they got to the parking lot in front of the apartment building, heading to Ruby's red and black Camaro. Blake slipped on her parka as they exited the building, the cold finding its way through her thin cotton shirt.

"Our parents already know. Weiss asked them for permission after asking me if I thought she should do it. They made fun of her for being so formal about it. As well as taking so long..." Ruby and Blake chuckled a bit, before Ruby proceeded with the conversation. "They've been a couple for almost 7 years now! Can you believe that?!"

"Yes, actually. Say what you want about how they constantly bicker, but they seem so made for each other. Like a square peg with a square hole." Blake answered seriously, as she felt Ruby lay her head on her shoulder and grab her arm for warmth. The shorter girl gave a nod along with her girlfriend's explanation as they approached her car resting under the parking lot light posts, happy to be so close to Blake whenever she could.

The tiger and dragon paint design was still on the driver side door of her sporty red and black car, but now on the passenger side door was the finished product of her earlier black panther sketch surrounded by roses carved out of rubies. Ruby added it to Crescent Rose shortly after Blake decided to stay at her apartment for the foreseeable future, feeling inspired and driven by the girl that made her life that much more interesting.

Ruby unlocked both doors and they climbed into the leather interior. Blake swiftly put on "Jeff William's Greatest Hits" as they put their seatbelts on and started up the car to pull out of the parking lot. Ironically, his greatest hits just consisted of all his songs ever made. It was quite a long list to be certain. "Caffeine" came on first and the couple felt such a rush of adrenaline, blazing down the street to the high paced song, making their way to the restaurant in no time.

* * *

Blake started to feel a little nervousness welling up inside her after they got out of the car. Meeting Ruby's parents for the first time was a big deal. She didn't know what to expect. She had heard from Ruby that Tai was quite protective of his family. Not to mention that Ruby said Raven was strict. If she didn't meet their standards, what would happen? _'I'm sure they'll be totally fine with their daughter dating a stripper…'_ Blake thought in heavy sarcasm. She let out a sigh and Ruby noticed. Ruby placed her hand in her own and gave hers a squeeze, trying to calm her nerves with her presence. It worked immediately and Blake gave Ruby a small smile to show it worked. "Thanks, Ruby. I needed that."

Ruby leaned into Blake's shoulder as they walked to the front door to the restaurant. "Don't mention it. You'll do fine, Blakey. Once they see how happy you make me, they will have no choice but to except you!" Ruby leaned up and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Yeah, you're right. If they're anything like you. I know they will accept me." Blake took her hand back and put an arm around Ruby's shoulder as they entered, both smiling as the faunus seemed to overcome her nervousness with just a gentle touch from the girl next to her.

"Good evening. Do you have a reservation?" The host asked the both of them, nodding with a smile in greeting.

"Hello! We're here with others. It's under Rose, I believe." Ruby greeted back in her cheery voice.

"Ah! Right this way. The other members arrived only minutes ago." The host picked up two more menus and ushered them to the back where the reservation was held.

The restaurant was a pretty fancy place. Not gaudy like somewhere Weiss' family might go, but a very nice place to have dinner with your parents none the less.

The two followed leisurely behind the nicely dressed man and Ruby almost immediately spotted her parents at the table their host was leading them to.

It was pretty easy, as Tai stood up and waved to Ruby and Blake like they were the only ones there. Raven face-palmed, wanting her husband to calm down and not make a scene. Summer was just as happy as her husband was, but waved from her seat, able to restrain herself better than Tai Yang.

When Ruby and Blake made it over to the table, Tai instantly threw his arms around Ruby and lifted her up off the ground, giving her a bear hug. The other two parents got up shortly after, to greet their daughter as well.

Blake stumbled back a bit, surprised to see her girlfriend swallowed up into the man that she could only presume to be Tai by the description she received from Ruby and Yang.

The burly man spun his daughter around in his arms like she weighed nothing, always excited to see her. Ruby was giggling and smiling all the while, as if it was a normal greeting to her.

"There's my girl!" Tai belted out as he gave her one last squeeze and set her down, only to be instantly hugged by the next person Blake didn't know.

"Darling! It's so good to see you!" The older woman exclaimed as she hugged Ruby and kissed her on her head. Blake knew she must have been Summer though, as she looked exactly like Ruby, only a bit older.

"Hey mom, hey dad! It's good to see you, too!" Ruby smiled to them both and then looked to the last woman, who was also smiling softly to her.

"Hey, Ruby. It's good to see you." Raven spoke softly in a tempered tone. Her joy to see her daughter couldn't be contained in her eyes though, as they beamed down at the shy girl. Ruby smiled back, and without a moment, leaped into Raven to give her a hug.

"Hey, mom!" Ruby chirped into Raven's chest, having known that Raven was never one to initiate such physical affection.

Raven took a moment, but wrapped Ruby up in a hug all the same, smiling at her daughters head. Ruby then pulled her head back, smiling as she caught her usually stern mother showing more emotion.

The red eyed mother then dropped her smile and adopted a stern look, as Ruby got nervous, remembering something.

"We all heard your car blazing into the parking lot, Ruby. You know I don't want you speeding in that deathtrap!" Raven shook her head, disappointed in her daughter's carelessness.

"Hehehe…R-Right. Sorry, mom. We just…didn't want to be late!" And with that reminder, Ruby remembered she didn't arrive alone.

Ruby stepped back, next to Blake, and gestured to her girlfriend, who was just quietly observing it all with a nervous smile. "Guys, this is Blake Belladonna! My girlfriend!"

Blake locked eyes with them all, a small, nervous smile on her face and hands clasped together in front of her, doing her best to not fidget under their gaze.

Summer was smiling, but Tai and Raven were sizing her up with neutral expressions. It was hard for Blake to understand what it meant. Ruby had assured her that they weren't racist against faunus, but the staring sure made it feel like she was being judged for existing, as they didn't let up for what felt like eternity.

Blake gulped down her nervousness and presented her hand to Summer, the easiest of the three. Summer took it immediately and shook her hand. "Hello, Blake! I'm Summer, Ruby's mom! And uh…" Summer looked away and scratched her cheek, reminding Blake of Ruby when she got nervous. "…Also her father…I'm sure you know by now about Ruby…" Summer asked quietly, as Ruby buried her face in her hands, ashamed of the comment.

"Mooom!" Ruby whined, not wanting to talk about their sex life in front of her three parents.

"Oh, hush, dear! There's nothing wrong with it…" Summer then looked to Blake again, staring into her eyes as she continued. "…right, Blake?" Summer was still smiling, but her eyes were picking Blake apart for any lies she might give.

Blake's eyes widened again and her throat felt dry as a desert from the nerve-wracking, probing silver orbs. She was sure she had never been more scared in her life at this point, as she coughed into her hand and then met Summer's eyes again to answer as truthfully as she could. What came out was a complete mess, however…

"Y-Yes! Of course there's nothing wrong with it! I-I love it! Er…Her…I-I mean-…!" Blake's eyes widened again, the size of dinner plates now, as she realized what she said aloud. She panicked and looked to Ruby for any source of help possible, only to see her already in her face, coming to glomp her in an excited hug.

"Blake!? You love me?!" Ruby asked as they hit the floor.

Ruby was so happy that Blake finally said it. She had been feeling the same, but never had the courage to tell her, in fear it would be too soon for their relationship.

"I love you too!" Ruby admitted immediately, on top of Blake as she hugged her. Ruby was nudging her face into Blake's cheek, cuddling her. All sense of the world around her clouded, as her heart was racing from the news of how Blake truly felt about her.

While this was going on, the host just placed the menus on the table and whispered to Tai. "I'll be back later…" Tai just nodded, still staring at the display of Ruby and Blake on the floor, as the host walked away at a brisk pace.

Summer was smiling fully again, happy her daughter had found someone who was Ok with her situation, as well as loved her. While laughing, Summer called out to her daughter, "Ok, Ruby. I think that's enough for now!" She reached out to Blake, who still had Ruby clinging to her, to help her up.

Blake recovered from the sudden bull rush of her girlfriend with a shake of her head and took the hand offered with a thank you.

Ruby quickly got off Blake as Summer helped her up to make the task easier, remembering with a slight blush that she and Blake weren't alone at all.

"So…You love my daughter?" Tai asked, crossing his arms, as the couple made their way to their feet.

Blake nodded slowly, finding it difficult to answer from the intimidating presence he seemed to exhume. Tai's hand then came down swiftly on Blake…In a celebratory clap on her shoulder.

"Well alright then! You seem to make her very happy! Just keep it up and there won't be any problems!" As Tai said this, he kept clapping her on the shoulder harder and harder, making the faunus flinch every time.

When he finished, Tai swiftly pulled Blake close to him to whisper to her. "But if you hurt her, there will be nothing left of your body..." Tai then pulled back and gave her a serious look, burrowing into her retinas as his eyes lingered on hers. Blake gulped in sheer terror at the threat, but in the next moment he was laughing again, happy for his daughter and her girlfriend.

Blake had it all wrong originally, as she was surrounded by Ruby's family. She shouldn't have been terrified wondering if they would accept her, she should have been terrified **after** they accepted her. Blake shook her head as this thought went through her, trying to shake the fear out, as a shiver went down the base of her spine, if her girlfriend's parents ever decided to act on the threats.

Ruby never took notice of this not-so-subtle threat on her girlfriend, as she was too busy hugging Summer, giddy they all seemed to accept her girlfriend so quickly.

Ruby then finally let go of Summer, and grabbed Blake's hand, leading her to the table to sit down, smiling as everything seemed to be going perfectly for them, unnoticing of Blake's rigid behavior.

Blake felt calmer though, with her hand in Ruby's. She let out a shaky breath next to her, trying to calm herself more and relax to enjoy this with Ruby. _'I can do this…For her…'_

* * *

They all took their seats and the waiter came around now. The young man with short blonde hair noticed that they hadn't been served drinks yet so he took it upon himself. He greeted them all and asked what they would like. The only ones to order alcohol being Raven and Tai, both getting a beer. Summer just had water and Blake and Ruby both had tea. The waiter then left with a practiced smile to fill the order and give them more time to figure out what they wanted to eat.

They all sat at a square table. Ruby and Blake together on one side, Raven across from them, Tai on Blake's side and Summer on Ruby's. Ruby still held onto Blake's sweaty hand as they sat, sensing something wrong with her, and wanting to calm her down in the tense atmosphere of her parents.

"So, Ruby? How long have you been dating Blake?" Tai asks wondering how long Ruby has kept them in the dark for.

"Almost four months now!" Ruby answered cheerfully, happy to talk about her relationship with Blake. "And Blake officially moved in with me about two months ago. I helped her move out of her old apartment and things are going really well!"

"Well, that's good… But you're already living together? Isn't that a bit fast for only dating for a few months?" The big, blonde haired man asked as the waiter came with the drinks.

"So are you ready to order, or do you need more time?" The waiter asks as he sets the last drink down for Summer.

Summer looked over and saw Ruby scrambling for the menu in front of her, clearly not ready. "Maybe a few more minutes, please." The older red head said with a small chuckle.

"That's fine, take all the time you need." The young man showed his patience and understanding with a smile and darted off to take care of the rest of his section.

Summer and the others looked expectantly to Blake and Ruby to answer the previous question Tai asked them, now that the waiter was gone once again.

"Uhm…it is a bit soon…But, you see…" Ruby mutters, looking up from her menu at the silence, not wanting to answer.

Blake took over for her, noticing that Ruby was now as nervous as her. "Ruby let me stay at her apartment for a while after I needed to find somewhere else." Blake was looking anywhere else but at the three parents, not wanting to say why, but it was wishful thinking, as their attention was drawn to the other side of the table as Raven asked a follow up question.

"Why did you need a place to stay?"

Blake looked up into Raven's eyes and they were locked with hers, staring into her for the truth, just like Summer's were before.

"Well, you see-…" Ruby tried to answer for her girlfriend at the suffocating tension, but was cut off by Raven.

"I asked her, Ruby. Let her talk." Raven still didn't break eye contact with Blake as she stopped her daughter. Tai and Summer shared a worried look across the table. They both knew that Raven was always suspicious of new people, but this situation didn't sound good in any capacity.

Blake closed her eyes and brought in a deep breath. Ruby rubbed her thumb over Blake's hand in her grasp, wanting to press in anymore comfort she could to her girlfriend.

Blake released the breath and opened her eyes after the encouragement and began to speak slowly and quietly to Raven. "My ex-boyfriend found me again…He attacked me at my apartment after our first date." Blake looked over to Ruby with a warm smile as she continued. "Ruby offered to allow me to stay with her while the police searched my apartment for a sign of forced entry or damage. And while I stayed with her, we discovered that we had a lot in common. Same music, same books…"

Ruby jumped in to finish the thought for Blake. "…And we both like to tease Weiss about Yang!" They both giggled to each other and the three parents across from them smiled at the sweet action.

Raven's voice picked up again. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that, Blake." She gave a small smile to the panther faunus, sorry as well for thinking the worst of her without reason.

Blake smiled in return, visibly relaxing as Ruby's parents seemed to lighten up a bit more. "Well, I'm not. If it didn't happen we may never have gotten together like we did. Who knows?" Blake shrugged and kissed Ruby's hand, forcing a smile from the red head beside her. Summer 'awwed' at the display. And the couple blushed at the gushing.

Ruby finally took the down time to check the menu…Right as the waiter came back. Ruby panicked as he started to ask what people wanted, but Blake grabbed the menu out of her hand and smirked at her. Blake knew that Ruby was going to forget again and already planned on ordering for them both, like she had done before.

"Seems like our first date again, huh?" Ruby said with a pouty voice and a small upward quirk of her lips as she wasn't really mad.

Blake's smirk got wider and she shot back at the remembrance. "More like every date. You're so easily distracted." Blake laughed as Ruby pouted for real that time.

The parents saw this interaction and joined in on the laughter, knowing how right Blake was about their daughter.

After the waiter left with their orders, the group went back to chatting. Since Blake brought up some of Ruby's quirks, they all decided to join in on teasing their youngest daughter.

The whole time, Ruby pouted and Blake laughed along with her girlfriend's parents. Blake never let go of her hand though, occasionally giving it a squeeze to see if she was alright.

Ruby would give her a smile and send the gesture back, just happy to be with her family and the girl she loved. No amount of teasing able to ruin it…

* * *

"So Blake…How did you and Ruby meet?" Summer asked, sweetly.

Blake and Ruby froze with wide eyes at the question, and they all took notice.

"Ruby has been pretty tightlipped about it. She usually tells us everything. But maybe you can tell us?" Summer asked again, hoping that nothing was wrong with the relatively new couple.

"Uhh…" Blake looked over to Ruby, asking for help.

There's was not a very traditionally romantic story. And they knew this, as Ruby just gripped Blake's hand harder and nodded to her, giving her the courage to continue.

"Well…We met at my job…"

"Oh…? And where is it that you work?" Raven asked lowly with intrigue spiking her voice, feeling suspicious again.

Blake swallowed a lump in her throat and gave Ruby a desperate sideways glance. This was most likely going to end terribly. Who reacted positively to their daughter dating a stripper? Especially when they met after her being propositioned for sex.

"I…Work at a…Strip…Club." Blake squeaked out, reluctantly as she lowered her head and gripped Ruby's hand tighter. Ruby leaned into Blake's side in comfort and sent a glare at Raven for making her girlfriend say it.

Summer, Tai, and Raven all exchanged glances at each other, gauging the other's reactions to the information. They were definitely shocked at the news, not expecting the person Ruby fell in love with to be someone who showed their body for money.

The three parents then looked at Ruby and Blake again, but just as they were about to bombard the couple with questions, Ruby put her hands out, realizing where this was headed. "Stop!"

Ruby then looked around at the restaurant and realized she shouldn't have done that, as everyone in close proximity stared back at her. "Sorry! Sorry! Please enjoy your meal, everyone!" Ruby apologized profusely to everyone around her for her outburst, feeling like an idiot.

As the rest of the room went back to their own business, whispers and irritable murmurs thrown around about the loud short haired girl, Ruby turned back to her parents, ready to set them straight in a much quieter tone.

"It doesn't matter what Blake does for a living. We have already talked it through and we have worked it out! It's up to us if that should matter. Not you!" Ruby kept her voice to a quiet roar, with her hand firmly linked with Blake's, as she defended their relationship.

The parents were speechless again. As well as the dark haired faunus beside the angered girl. Ruby was the least confrontational person they all had ever known. And now she was yelling at her own parents to defend this girl.

Blake felt a surge of warmth rush through her as her girlfriend fought to stay with her. There was a similarity to Adam within Ruby, but that was where the similarity ended. Ruby knew what it meant to go too far. She could restrain herself from throwing punches at any and everybody for the one she loved. Adam had no restraint, no measure of common sense of what was right and wrong. Just rage and pain.

Summer was the first to come out of her stupor, as she coughed into her hand and shook her head at the un-expectant aggression from her youngest daughter. "Well…That is true. That is your business. But…I'm very curious, Ruby…Why did you go to a strip club? That just didn't seem like something you would do, is all..." Summer asked very confused. She knew her daughter was an adult and most likely already had sex before, but Ruby did not seem the type to go to a strip club. The other parents thought the same, as they stared at Ruby in puzzlement.

"It was Yang, wasn't it?" Tai asked after a beat, guessing the most likely cause of his daughter's behavior.

Blake let out a small smile as Ruby face palmed, giving a nod as well.

"She just can't stay out of your business, can she?" Raven closed her eyes and shook her head at her first born.

"No! That's what I always tell you! She needs to know every detail about my life. It drives me crazy…" Ruby started to yell but toned it down once she saw people staring again.

She then looked back to her parents in wonder as the subject was changed. "Wait, does this mean you guys are Ok with it? With Blake?" Ruby grinned in hopefulness, not letting go of her girlfriend's hand.

"…I'm Ok with it. They seem to really care for one another and I think that's all that matters if they're happy." Summer said to the other two parents, smiling.

Tai nodded and gave a thumbs up to Ruby and Blake, seeing that what Summer said seemed to be true about the couple.

Ruby and Blake then looked to Raven, her deep red eyes open and staring at Blake again, sizing her up for what she's worth.

Blake stared unflinchingly back into her eyes, not backing down as her grip on Ruby's hand tightened once more.

The scary mother finally gave out a huff and dropped eye contact, not seeing anything like deceit, or aggression within the amber orbs of the girl next to her daughter. A small smile adorned her face as Blake let out a shaky breath, not able to hold it much longer under the older woman's intense gaze. "If you're happy…I'm happy, Ruby."

"Thank you! I'm glad you have finally met Blake. I know it's been a long time coming, but we were understandably nervous about how you would react." Ruby fidgets in her chair and looks away, feeling bad about keeping her parents in the dark for so long.

"Thank you. For giving me a chance. I do love your daughter very much." Blake squeezes Ruby's hand and rubs her thumb lovingly as Ruby leans into Blake's side again. "She means the world to me. And there's no one else I'd rather be with." Blake confessed as she stared at the head of red and black laying on her shoulder.

The parents of Ruby all smiled at their daughter leaning into Blake's shoulder, visible proof that Ruby completely felt the same way about the panther faunus.

"We're just glad she found someone who feels the same way about her." Summer said as the others gave a nod in agreement.

Shortly after, the food showed up with the blonde waiter. Blake had a smile building on her face as she kept her focus on the one she loved, but when she smelled the fish, she turned toward the smell and her eyes widened like saucers at the sight of the freshly cooked fish.

Ruby giggled at the sight of her girlfriend drooling over the food. She leaned back into Blake and whispered to her as the faunus kept staring intently at the plates of seafood.

"You know, we have done pretty well so far…If you keep this up, I may give you something else to drool over." Ruby sent her a wink as Blake turned back to her at the surprising words.

Blake's mind was mush at that point, as today just couldn't get any better. She finally got over the anxiety of meeting Ruby's parents. She was treated to some finely prepared fish, and maybe, just maybe, something extra tonight when they got home.

* * *

Everyone delved into their food. There wasn't much talking going on while they ate, but they all enjoyed the company of family and loved ones, as they continued on with their night.

"So, Ruby. How is your art work going?" Tai asks, wondering if she has created anything they might like to see.

"It's going well, dad. I added a new addition to Crescent Rose recently. It's of a panther surrounded by crystalized roses!" Ruby said after she swallowed what she had in her mouth. She may have not liked fish as much as Blake, but she still enjoyed every bite, as the restaurant was pretty popular for their seafood dinners.

"Hmmm…A panther surrounded by roses…You don't say?" Tai smirks at Ruby and Blake. "Where did you get the inspiration for that piece?"

Ruby didn't catch the massive hints that he was being sarcastic and answered him truthfully. "Oh, I don't know. I thought of it around the same time as when we put the dragon and tiger design on my car. Why?" Ruby tilted her head and then looked over to Blake, wondering what was happening. Blake was blushing scarlet, not as slow as Ruby was on picking up on the message.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked as she looked back at her parents in puzzlement.

"Really? It's not obvious? You drew yourself and Blake, didn't you?" Raven bluntly asked what they were all thinking.

Ruby face turned from puzzled, to pale, to blushing as deep as her shirt. "W-What? No! I thought of it before I even met her! How could I have?!"

"Really? But it fits so perfectly. How could that have been a coincidence?" Summer asked, befuddled by her daughters work.

"I don't know, but ask Yang! She saw the piece I was sketching before I even learned Crescent Rose was mine." Ruby looked down after that, thinking about how this all came about. She then grabbed Blake's hand again and leaned into her shoulder, smiling softly as she came to the reason. "But I will admit that she was the inspiration to finish it and put it on the passenger side door."

That got Blake's attention, as she was stunned by the cute confession. "Wow, Ruby. Really? You never told me that before. That's…so sweet." Blake smiled and they shared a peck on the lips, reveling in the closeness they both shared.

Their moment was embarrassingly interrupted by Tai, though. "Geeze! You guys are freaking adorable!" He put out his arms to point their way as to show them off to the table. Ruby and Blake, blushing at the attention.

"Mmmmmh…Daaad!" Ruby whined to her surrogate father for putting her and Blake in the spotlight. The whole table, laughing at her childishness.

"Never grow up, Ruby." Summer said, getting slapped in the arm by Ruby for embarrassing her further.

"Moooom!" The shriek just made them all laugh harder as Ruby tried to pout at being made fun of, but a smile crept up as she felt a reassuring squeeze over her left hand from Blake, helping her calm down and return to enjoying the meal with her family.

* * *

The dinner finally ended as they all finished what they could eat from the finely prepared meals they were served. They shortly received the check from their waiter who arrived once he was able.

Blake got the young man's attention, asking a favor before he left to attend to another table. "Can you split the check, please? I can cover mine and hers." Blake said, pointing to Ruby beside her.

"Oh, Blake. You don't have to do that." Summer interrupted, waving her hand in dismissal of the idea.

"No. I want to. It wouldn't feel right being paid for." Blake said, shaking her head as she didn't want to cost Ruby's family money.

"Really, Blake. It's our treat. We just wanted to get to know the person who is with our daughter. You can pay for you two next time, how does that sound?" Tai asked, handing the waiter his card as he paid for everyone.

"Next time?" Blake couldn't help but ask.

"Well, sure! I would hope there would be a next time. Ruby seems to really like you, and if Ruby sees you as family, then you're our family too!" Tai gave her a big smile, showing his sincerity.

The panther faunus was speechless again. She never had a true family, let alone one so caring like Ruby's. So giving and cheerful.

Blake never had anyone to depend on in her life. Adam was the only one she had resembling a family during her time at the orphanage. And when he changed and they split apart, Blake never again had anyone as close. The occasional nice co-worker at her job, sure, but that was it. Just acquaintances. She did have Ruby now, though.

The black haired girl was barely able to hold back her tears in front of them, never realizing what this dinner meant until Tai had said it aloud. She had a family now.

Blake forced the tears back by closing her eyes and looking down so they wouldn't see them. She then looked back up to Tai, to all of them, with a grateful smile. "Thank you….All of you. I had a great time." They all smiled at her words as Ruby clung to her arm like a safety blanket, smiling up to her as well.

They all stood up and walked outside after they finished paying, wanting more room for a proper farewell.

Tai was the first to say goodbye as they made it outside, picking up both Ruby and Blake in a bear hug. "It was great to see you again, my little rose." He gave Ruby a kiss on the forehead, then looked to Blake as he set them down with an earnest smile.

"And Blake. It was nice to meet you too. Take care of my daughter, I know you'll make her happy…" Tai leaned in again to whisper the rest. "…Cause if you don't…" He ended in an ominous whisper that chilled Blake's blood, but the next moment he was smiling at her again, patting her on the back like he didn't just threaten her life for the second time.

Summer pushed her husband out of the way and hugged the couple individually, starting with Ruby. "Oh! It was great to see you again, sweetie!" Summer kissed Ruby all over, missing her daughter terribly.

Ruby had to bat her away to get to stop. "Mom! Please! I'm not a little kid!" Ruby slowly stopped struggling from the hug though, wrapping her arms around her mother in return, as she just couldn't help herself. "…It was great to see you again, too. You too, dad."

Summer then turned to Blake right after and hugged her too. "Thank you, Blake. For looking after my daughter. I know she's a handful!" They both laughed at Ruby's expense as she pouted again.

"I'm right here, guys! Ughh…" Ruby stomped her foot, feeling like a child.

"Thank you for trusting me. I won't let you down." Blake gave Summer an earnest smile, as she spoke softly, but determinedly.

Summer gave her a nod, then stepped next to Tai, out to the side of the group, as he put an arm around her in a half hug, both waiting on Raven's turn to say goodbye.

The black haired, red eyed mother stepped to Ruby and brought her into a hug so she can whisper into her ear. "You certainly know how to pick 'em, Ruby. She's a catch…" Raven said with a soft smile, before pulling back to finish out loud. "Take care of yourself and Yang please. I know you're the responsible one." Raven's smile morphed into a smirk as she saw Ruby blushing at her previous comment. She thought she was quiet enough that only her daughter would hear, but she forgot about Blake's faunus ears, as they twitched atop the younger girl's head.

Blake was blushing profusely at being called 'a catch' by Ruby's mother, not knowing how to take the compliment clearly not intended to be heard by her.

"Th-Thanks mom." Ruby stuttered out, turning away, flustered by the comment.

Raven then turned to Blake and noticed her flushed face as well. She was puzzled for a moment, then she glanced up, seeing her cat ears twitch again. Raven breathed in deep and forced the awkwardness past her in a sigh of embarrassment, not letting the slip-up get to her. She then stuck out her hand to Blake in a sign of respect, wanting to just get past the embarrassing situation.

"It was nice meeting you, Blake…" Blake was about to respond to the nice acknowledgment, but before she could, Raven continued. "…But if you're thinking Tai's threat wasn't serious then just worry about mine. You break **her** , I break **you**. Deal?"

Raven never glared at her, but she did stare deeply into Blake's eyes again, like before.

Blake mustered up her courage and stuck her hand out, accepting the hand firmly with a shake. "You have nothing to worry about. I would never hurt Ruby." Blake shook her head slowly as she spoke, emphasizing her point.

Raven accepted the response and nodded, before walking over to Tai and Summer. She wrapped Summer in a hug from behind, putting her head on her shoulder, as they waved to Ruby and Blake who were walking to their car, returning the wave in kind.

Ruby yelled bye as Tai, Raven, and Summer started to grow smaller, hearing the three of the swiftly yelling back.

Once they were a comfortable distance away, Ruby leaned over to whisper in Blake's ear again. "So Uh…Forgot to mention, but my dad and Raven were in the military together. Hehehe…Sorry." Ruby rubbed the back of her head awkwardly as they walked along.

Blake looked over at Ruby incredulously, for not mentioning that **little** detail. "Really, Ruby? You couldn't tell me that sooner? Huuhh…Well that explains the danger they seemed to present just by staring…What does Summer do, then? I feel like all the questions were on me the entire night." Blake shook her head at not being able to ask anything like, how the three of them met each other, but as to answer her question, Ruby picked back up.

"I said, sorry. It just slipped my mind... But Summer is a nurse and she happened to service Tai when he was shot. Raven was there by his side at the time and they became fast friends…And eventually…Yeah." Ruby ended off, not wanting to talk or think about her parents like that.

"How did he get shot? What war did he serve in?" Blake asked as they got in Ruby's Camaro.

As Ruby started the engine and got their seatbelts on, she responded with a laugh. "War? No, he was shot by a friend of his, some old military buddy. Dad said he was a bit of a drunk. Strangely enough, he had a name like Raven's, some bird. Odd, I know. The guy was dishonorably discharged."

"The guy sounds like an idiot." Blake shook her head at the thought of someone shooting their own friend in the military.

"Dad said he was just a really unlucky guy to be around…" Ruby responded as they pulled out onto the street.

* * *

They sped down the highway, back to their apartment, as they just watched the lights pass by and listened to the roar of Ruby's car, in comfortable silence.

"I think they like me." Blake muttered with a smile as they continued on down the road.

"Yeah, me too. Told you it was nothing to worry about. My parents are nice to people that are nice to our family." Ruby shifted gears again after agreeing with her girlfriend, picking up speed on the highway.

"I suppose, but the threats were a bit much." Blake chuckled, just taking them as the general protective parents' spiel.

"I wouldn't take it so lightly, Blake. They threaten a lot and always follow through if the promise is broken. I've seen it." Ruby looked over to give Blake a serious look and Blake paled at it with wide eyes.

Ruby then started to snicker though, not able to hold the joke in any longer. "Hahahaha! You were so pale just now!"

"Oh! That was dirty! You know how afraid of this I was, Ruby!" Blake yelled as she slapped her on the arm, cracking a small smile.

"Ow! Driving here!?" Ruby yelped before they both started to laugh together, enjoying the moment while driving down the highway. Nothing but the sound of the heater and the car zooming down the road to be heard as the quiet takes over once again.

* * *

They get off the highway and are on the city streets once again, approaching their destination shortly.

Not sensing a better time approaching, Blake takes the opportunity to cash in on the earlier promise from Ruby. She places her hand on Ruby's leg and slides it down, nearing her inner thigh. Her hand moves under the younger girl's skirt, testing the waters.

"Ruby…About that promise you made during dinner~…"

As Ruby felt the hand moving up her skirt, she looked over and saw a lustful smirk on Blake's face. Ruby's eyes widened at the predatory stare, but they quickly go back to the road so they don't crash.

"Oh, remembered that, did you~?" Ruby asked in a playful voice, smirking at the road since she couldn't look away.

"I would never forget a promise like that. So what is it that I'm supposed to drool over…?" Blake asked, feigning ignorance, as she moved her hand further under Ruby's skirt, brushing up against her panties that barely contained her special appendage.

Ruby shifted a little bit towards the hand and bit her lip, wanting to feel her girlfriend's touch, but Blake was a masterful tease and pulled her hand back to match the shift, never giving her the satisfaction that easily.

"You'll…just have to see when we get home… But-mmmh~… You've seen it a few times…" Ruby paused her explanation as she bit back a moan, Blake's hand just lightly caressing the edge of her bulge.

"Oh, I can't wait~..." Blake seduced further, as they pull into the parking lot of their apartment building.

Ruby parked as fast as she could and they bolted out of the car, Ruby locking Crescent Rose over her shoulder with the electronic lock as they rushed inside and got into the elevator.

* * *

They wasted no time in the semi-private setting and locked lips immediately. Blake pushed Ruby against the stainless steel wall of the elevator, taking dominance in the kiss as she slips her tongue into her girlfriend's mouth.

Ruby gave out a loud moan as Blake sucked on her tongue, only getting louder as Blake started to feel her cock through her skirt.

"Mmmmmh-Blake…! We can't here!" Ruby broke the heated kiss, stopping the faunus' movements for but a moment.

Blake growled out in defiance, as she started to suck on Ruby's neck instead. Ruby melted at the attention, becoming putty in her hands, but was then saved by the elevator ding, telling them they arrived on their floor.

The panther faunus let out an aggravated breath, at the interruption, wasting no time in picking Ruby up and carrying her out of the elevator.

Ruby, surprised by the motion, wrapped her legs around Blake's waist, making it easier to travel.

Thankfully no one was around to see them, as they made their way to their door. Blake pushed Ruby up against the wall next to the door and kept attacking her neck, squeezing her ass roughly and domineeringly.

Ruby let out a yelp as she felt herself harden against Blake's stomach, thanks to her girlfriend's rough handling. She reached over with her keys out towards the lock and fit the right one in, then turned, unlocking the door.

Blake heard it click and immediately opened up the door to carry Ruby through the threshold. She kicked the door closed as she passed and carried Ruby straight to their bedroom, wasting no time.

She threw Ruby on the bed and started to strip, taking off her parka that she wore through the night. Ruby was doing the same thing, starting with her skirt as she just slipped it down her legs. Suddenly though, Ruby's phone went off, breaking them from their hasty disrobing.

They both looked at each other and groaned, annoyed by the interruption.

Blake shook her head, telling her to not answer it. As incentive, she was already on her knees in front of Ruby at the edge of the bed, finishing where Ruby left off by pulling her skirt off of her ankles just as Ruby got her phone out of her skirt pocket.

Ruby kicked her shoes off and looked at the caller ID, only to groan. It was Yang. Probably wanting Ruby to know she was getting married now. Ruby shook her head, deciding to deal with it at another time. She speedily turned her phone off then chucked it in a random direction of the room as Blake slipped her red panties down her smooth legs, elated to begin taking Ruby all over again.

Blake's eyes became slits as she stared at Ruby's member, hungry for her. Ruby became worried for the faunus as she noticed this new development, but her worry was overruled by the pleasure Blake caused her, as she began her ministrations.

* * *

When Ruby finished, they were both out of breath and coated in sweat. Ruby was taking massive gulps of air to get her breathing regulated again. "Blake…Not that…I'm complaining, but…What was that? What happened to you?" Ruby asked as she looked up to Blake, who pulled back from her shoulder to lick the wound she caused.

Ruby was still deep inside Blake, and it was getting hard not to start up again with the older girl starting to shift above her.

Blake fully pulled back this time, looking at Ruby. Her eyes were normal again, besides the worry that filled those amber orbs. "I'm so sorry, Ruby. Are you Ok?"

Ruby looked over to the mark on her shoulder and saw it was glistening with saliva and a bit of blood. It was still dark so she couldn't see it too well like Blake could, but she saw some grooves made into her skin. It may scar over, but she would live.

As Ruby inspected the damage, Blake made to get off her, settling down next to the other woman in bed.

Ruby turned back to Blake and smiled at her with a shake of her head. "It's Ok. I'll be fine." Ruby never fully got over her worry for Blake though, as her smile turned to a small frown. "But what happened to you? Your eyes looked different from normal and you certainly weren't acting normal. Not that I had a problem with what we did, that was…Really hot. But I'm worried about you, too."

Ruby made a point to press past her embarrassment from the admission, too focused on Blake's wellbeing to care.

Blake clenched her eyes closed and leaned her head against Ruby's, thinking of how to tell her what came over her. "I'm sorry…I should have told you, but I didn't know if it was actually going to happen. Then it does anyways… Right when we start to do it again…" Blake rambled on, then shook her head ruefully as she leaned away from Ruby to look her in the eyes again.

Ruby sent a nod to the headboard above her and smiled at Blake, sending her a message. "Um, do you mind untying me? It's getting a little uncomfortable…"

Blake smiled and released a humorous breath at Ruby trying to keep the mood lighter around them. She quickly obliged, removing the bra from the headboard and freeing Ruby's arms once again.

"Now, what are you talking about, Blake?" Ruby asked, confused by the nonsense Blake uttered.

Blake sighed and looked to Ruby's bite mark on her glistening shoulder, still worried about telling her.

Sensing the reluctance and fear, Ruby caressed Blake's cheek and brought her in for a kiss. A passionate one, filled with love and caring. It was a slow, burning, kiss, with just a hint of tongue. Ruby pushed in all her love into it, wanting to assure her love that there was nothing she could say that would make her love her any less.

As they pulled back, Ruby looked into Blake's normal amber eyes with love radiating from her own silver ones, still rubbing her cheek with a thumb and a smile. "You know you can tell me anything…"

Blake returned the smile, albeit a little uneasy, but continued explaining at a slow pace. "Well…Faunus have a lot of unique things about them. Some things only apply to certain types. Like a lizard faunus for example, could regrow his tail if needed…" Blake sighs. "…Some… mammal faunus females…Have a heat cycle…" Ruby's eyes widened at finally understanding what this was about, but Blake shook her head to cut her off so she could explain herself. "…I know! I could have told you sooner, but it's not exactly the same as animals!"

Blake looked off towards the window to gather her thoughts once Ruby had settled down long enough for her to further explain. "I never had anyone to teach me, so I looked it up online when I could. For a female panther faunus, its only active if I have a special bond with a person, and only with that person…If I think… They could maybe be my mate for life…"

Blake looked back to Ruby with a smile, as she knew that she was that person. "I guess it had something to do with us finally admitting we love each other tonight. That must have been what it took for me to…go into heat."

Blake looked down at her lap as she sat up next to Ruby, who also got up to sit next to her on the bed. They pulled the covers around themselves for warmth against the December chill, before Blake continued. "Me and Adam were at that stage, but as I changed, so did he… He started getting more violent and possessive. At the time, I didn't know what was happening with us. I looked this stuff up after we split up, so we tried to wait it out, not knowing any better, but that clearly didn't work… Luckily, we never got pregnant though…" Blake ended with a sigh of relief, as that would have spelled a nightmare for her.

At that thought, Ruby's eyes widened like headlights in the dark room. "Um yeah, about that…You don't happen to have a fallback plan with that do you? Cause we didn't use a condom and I know that faunus can't be on the pill. It messes with your body, right?" Ruby squeaks out, feeling the crushing responsibility of their actions come down on her shoulders.

"Right…I don't know, Ruby. Maybe I won't get pregnant...? But if I do…Can I count on you to stay beside me?" Blake asked with pleading eyes not to leave her by herself.

The worry vanished in an instant however, as Ruby buried her face in Blake's chest, hugging her under the covers. Blake hugged back just as fast, wrapping her arms tightly around the adorable girl that she couldn't bear to live without.

"Of course! I would never leave you like that Blake. I just…Really don't think we're ready for kids right now… That seems like a really big step." Ruby hesitated, wondering if Blake felt the same way.

"I couldn't agree more…" Blake said with a sigh of relief that matched Ruby's. The faunus then grinned into Ruby's red and black hair, finding the next part funny. "…But just imagine the look on Weiss' face when we beat them to kids!" They both start to laugh, seeing a flustered and aggravated Weiss sputtering at them as she paced around the room in anger.

Ruby smiled deeply into Blake's chest and continues. "We'll be alright, Blake…If it comes to that…I'm sure we can handle it together."

Blake smiled warmly down to Ruby and kissed her hair as a tear slipped out, so happy that Ruby felt so sure. "Yeah…Together." She muttered as they laid down in each other's arms to sleep, huddling for warmth under the covers during the cold winter night.

* * *

7 Years later…

Ruby drives up to a nice suburban house in Crescent Rose and hops out. She popped the trunk open and grabbed the two big bags of groceries out of it, carrying them to the front door. She gave a knock as best she could, her hands too full to unlock the door herself.

After a moment, she heard a small voice from the other side of the door. "Who is it…?"

"Jet, it's me sweetie. Can you open the door for me? These bags are pretty heavy." Ruby said, as she shuffled the bags around to resituate the weight in her arms as they started to get numb.

The door shortly unlocked and opened up without a moment's notice. There, standing next to the door, was a little girl about 4 years old.

She had black hair, amber eyes and black cat ears atop her head. A similarly black tail swished behind her in excitement at seeing Ruby.

The little girl was smiling up at the older woman who had bags blocking her face, but that didn't stop the little cat faunus from recognizing her voice. "Mommy!" The little girl known as Jet hugged Ruby's leg tightly, almost causing the mother to fall over.

Ruby managed to catch herself at the last minute though, bracing herself against the wall of the hallway leading further into their house.

"It's good to see you too, honey. But I've only been gone for an hour, and I would really like to be able to put these bags down…" Ruby gently chided as she shuffled towards the doorway to her left in the hallway, walking into the kitchen with her daughter still attached to her leg like a leech. She slammed the bags down on the counter and looked to the stove top with a heavy breath leaving her lips.

There, stirring a pot over the burner, was a taller, black haired, panther faunus. The other woman turned around to smirk at her, acknowledging her presence within the house.

"Took you long enough. Now I see why." Blake, now Ruby's wife of 5 years, stared at the two huge bags that the red head sat down. "Why did you get so much? We just needed some milk for the mac and cheese." Blake said as she shook her head and turned back around to watch over the food.

"I know! But they also had…" Ruby reached into one of the bags to fish out…well… "Salmon on sale!" Blake and Jet's eyes lit up at the sight of the delectable fish. Jet hugged her mother's legs harder as thanks and Ruby looked down to pat her on the head, laughing, happy to make her daughters day.

"I guess that's a thank you." Ruby looked over to Blake, grinning. "Where's mine from you?"

Blake smirked. "I married you, didn't I?" She snickered as Ruby's smile dropped slightly from the tease, then leaned over to give Ruby a peck on the lips. "Thank you."

"Anything for my family." As Ruby said this with her smile back at full force, another sound came from the hall leading to the kitchen. Tiny footsteps.

Another little girl stormed into the kitchen, searching for something. Her sights set on Ruby when she notices her and she beams a smile up at the 30 year old woman.

"Mommy!" The second little girl grabbed onto Ruby's legs as well, overlapping the first, smaller girl.

Ruby stumbled into the counter, the weight getting a bit too much, but she smiled all the same at how cheery her daughters were to see her. Even though she was only gone for an hour.

"Hey, Catherine. Why so excited?" Ruby asked as she put her hand through the second little girl's hair.

Catherine was 1 year older than Jet, at 5. She had black cat ears and a tail like her younger sister, but her hair was mostly black with spots of red in it. She had silver eyes staring up at Ruby as she giggled at the petting motion. Unlike her younger sister though, she also seemed to take after her father/mother, in more ways than one, being born with the same condition as Ruby and Summer before her.

"Mommy! Mommy! Momma said that Moonstone is coming over today with Aunt Yang and Aunt Weiss!" Catherine yelled in excitement to Ruby, her mommy, happy to see her cousin and aunts whenever she got the chance.

Ruby looked quizzically over to her wife to make sure their daughter wasn't just making it all up.

Blake stared back with a smile and a nod. "Yeah, they called right after you left. They said that Moonstone really wanted to see Jet and Cat."

"Oh yeah? So when are they getting here?" Ruby asked as she nudged Cat's shoulder, wanting her to let go of her leg so she could move again. "Can you take your sister to play in your room?"

Catherine nodded and grabbed Jet's hand, tugging on her. "Come on, Jet! Let's play huntresses!" Jet's cat ears perked up and she smiled at Cat as they both ran off to their room to go play.

Ruby smiled at their retreating figures as they left and then looked to Blake who had yet to turn around again, still at the stove top. Ruby walked behind her and wrapped her arms around her wife, kissing her shoulder. Blake leaned into Ruby touch as she answered with a soft voice.

"They should be here by 6. Yang told me that Weiss doesn't get off work until 5:30, so we have time to finish cooking before they get here."

"Alright. I'll get started on the salmon then." Ruby left another kiss on her shoulder, before letting go of Blake, and pulled out a knife from the counter to open up the salmon package and prepare it.

"So how was work? I never got to ask you earlier." Ruby asked as she sat the fillet down on the cutting board.

"It went very well. It wasn't too busy, which was surprising. They were mostly noise complaint calls. Nothing major." Blake answered with a smile directed at Ruby.

After they had their first kid, Blake had decided to stop stripping, as it wasn't a very good environment for their kid to live in, knowing their mother showed her body for money. She loved doing it, but she realized she loved her family more.

Blake eventually got a job at the police station, curtesy of Weiss as her reference, as an emergency phone call operator. She of course had to go through the training for it first, but from dealing with an aggressive person like Adam to a very hyper person like Ruby, she knew how to deal with talking people through emergencies. She fit right in down at the precinct.

"Well that's good." Ruby was about to tell Blake who she ran into at the store, when the doorbell rang. Ruby put the knife down on the cutting board to go answer it, but Blake stopped her.

"I'll get it. The mac and cheese just needs some milk and the cheese packet to add to it and it will be ready." Blake turned off the burner and went to the door once Ruby agreed, staying to follow the instructions the faunus gave her.

Blake got to the door and opened it. She was maybe expecting Weiss and Yang a bit early, but no. It wasn't them. A figure stood there on the front porch, staring at Blake intently. And she couldn't believe her eyes, as her mouth opened, trying to find the words.

"A-Adam…?"

* * *

 **Bum-Bum-Buuuum! Ruby, grab your stun gun! XD**

 **Originally, there was a lemon in this chapter, but it was flagged so I had to remove it. If you want to see the full story in all it's lemony goodness, then go to my AO3 account and read it there. My name is the same, but with an underscore between Lavits and Dragoon.**

 **By the way, that old war buddy that shot Tai was Qrow if you were wondering. A bit of bad luck... No he's not related to Raven in this story. I feel a bit bad about writing him off as just a small comical character considering how bad ass he is in the show, but eh. It was a good joke!**

 **Anyways, leave a review please! I really want to hear what you all have to say about my stories! Even if it's something you had a problem with. I mean, I won't be able to fix it if I'm not aware of it, will I? So please help! Thanks for the support everyone. Peace!**


	4. The Panther Sinks Her Claws

**Adam confronts Blake once again...**

* * *

Chapter 4: The Panther Sinks Her Claws

Amber orbs gazed unblinkingly into the figure standing on the front porch before her.

Blake hadn't heard much about Adam since he was put in jail for several accounts of assault on her. Including the assault on Ruby when he reappeared at her apartment; the total sentence was 26 months in prison.

That was 7 years ago, though.

After he got out, he must have been told about the restraining order that Blake had passed, because she never heard from him again. Until this very moment.

"Adam…?" Blake asked nervously again. She could tell that he wasn't doing well. He had tattered, dirtied, jeans and a white, stained tank-top that barely covered some of his tattoos and scars that he had received over the years. Adam was holding a bottle of Whiskey in one hand and a clenched fist in the other. His messy red hair was covering his face, so she couldn't tell what was going through his head, as he continued to stand, unmoving, at her front door.

The lack of motion sent a chill through her spine. Blake knew that anything he had to say would just be meaningless words to get her back, but it was scarily strange that he wasn't advancing towards her immediately.

"Blake…" Adam's gravelly voice came out as he talked slowly. "…I've come to take you back. You belong with me, and you need to see that!"

Adam put one foot forward as he spoke and Blake stepped back behind the door, ready to shut it if he moved any closer.

The now angered faunus glared at seeing her defiant once again and rushed the door, seeing words won't get through to her.

Blake tried slamming the door closed before he reached her, but a poorly-laced shoe stomped through the threshold just before she was able to latch the door closed and lock it.

As Blake tried her hardest to keep him out, Adam charged and pushed on the door with his shoulder, throwing the girl down to the hardwood floor just on the other side of the door with a thud, the door flying open again under the drunk faunus' weight.

As the doorknob slammed into the hallway wall with a clatter, Adam saw his chance and moved to Blake on the ground, trying to haul her up and out the door to take her back to his car. Once his hand clasped her shoulder to force her up, Blake growled and bit the hand with all her strength, not giving in so easily.

Adam pulled his hand back out of her mouth with a cry of pain, and blood pooled from the gashes as he shook it in agony. Seeing the red leak from his hand only made him angrier, though. As now, he could see nothing but red.

"You're coming with me, Blake! One way or another!" Adam threw the mostly empty bottle he brought with him to the side with a shatter, fury radiating off of his very being as he put his hands on her throat roughly, trying to pick her up.

Blake struggled against the hold and he started to choke her where she laid, putting more and more pressure on her esophagus until she would finally stop resisting him.

As Adam grinned down menacingly towards Blake, who was starting to writhe and cough within his grasp, a red bullet viciously rammed into his side, knocking him off of the cat faunus and into the wall opposite of the new arrival.

"Blake! Take the kids! Now!" Ruby yelled out, trying to help Blake up from the floor. As she turned her back to the intruder however, her leg was pulled out from under her and she hit the floor, face down.

Blake was scrambling backwards on her elbows towards the kitchen before she saw Ruby get taken down with a crunch. "Ruby!" She called out, worried for her wife as the noise sounded like she smashed her nose.

Blake hurriedly got to her feet once again and took a step closer to her wife, wanting to help her, but paused in fear as Adam jumped on top of Ruby and rolled her over to face him, remembering her from last time.

"STOP. GETTING. IN. THE. WAAAAY!" Adam screamed at the red head below him as he gripped her by her hair and slammed her head into the ground with each word to express just how much he didn't care for her.

Ruby wasn't even able to respond as she started to see stars and black dots swim in her vision. She managed to give out a guttural whimper as he paused, begging for him to stop, before he gave one last slam and then a punch to the jaw, silencing her.

As Ruby fell unconscious, blood streaming from her mouth and head, Adam looked over to his love with a sadistic grin and rose to his feet. "This bitch isn't gonna get in the way again like last time, Blake. Now come with me, or she dies!" Adam lifted his shirt up, showing Blake a handgun tucked into his waistband.

Blake started to back away, horrified by what he could do further to Ruby or her family.

Adam smirked, seeing that she's crippled with fear from the reveal. He takes the gun out and keeps it at his side, stalking ever closer to Blake.

The panther faunus continued to back away in fear, reaching the kitchen. She quickly ran into resistance. The countertop at the far wall from the entryway. Where she and Ruby were just talking about their normal, boring day. Amber orbs go wide as she started to panic, tears breaching her sockets, realizing that she had nowhere to go.

Adam advanced on her further, with a smirk, realizing what she did. That she was at his mercy.

Blake's hands started to feel around on the counter for anything she can use to protect herself. To keep her from his clutches again. Her fingers brush up against a handle on the cutting board and she gripped it tightly, feeling the familiar grip of the fillet knife that they often use to cut up fish.

Ruby must have left it out when she heard the thud from the front door against the wall.

Adam kept marching toward her slowly as Blake prepared to use the last ditch attempt to get him to stop. She started to shake, tears running down her face now, not knowing if she could do it.

Adam's voice cut into her thoughts as he's just out of arms reach of her. "I will **never** give you up, Blake! **Anyone** who gets in the way of our love, will suffer the consequences…You're only making it worse for them by resisting. So just give up!" Adam reached out for her with his empty hand as he finished. His everything, soon to be in his grasp.

Blake saw the faces of her family flash before her eyes as Adam reached for her. She slammed her eyes closed as she jabs the knife forward, towards Adam…

 ***Sshink***

There's a sickening noise that filled the air as Adam stopped in his tracks. He looked down as Blake opened her eyes and let go of the knife, seeing the same thing.

The fillet knife went through Adam's gut, embedded within his stomach. His blood was dripping down the handle of the knife and from the corner of his mouth, as he croaked out a pained gurgle. Adam fell to his knees, then to his back as he got even weaker, the knife still in his stomach, coughing up blood as he was choking on it.

Blake covered her mouth as she thought about what she had done. Her tears were running down her face as she saw Adam take his last breaths of life. He gave out one last gurgle of panic and desperation as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

* * *

As Adam laid motionless on their tiled kitchen floor, blood starting to pool around his midsection, Blake collapsed to the floor as well, hugging herself as she cried on her knees. She killed the first family she ever had.

Blake still loved Adam after all, and those feelings didn't just disappear overnight. He was a very good person once, and he didn't deserve to be killed like an animal. All she could think about was how she could have helped him. Maybe she could have gotten him help for his anger. Maybe if he got to know Ruby, he would see how happy her wife made her. That was just wishful thinking now, though. He was dead…And she killed him…

Blake's crying was halted, as she heard a small voice call out for her that made her heart seize. "Momma…?"

Blake looked up with wide, glassy red eyes and saw her two daughters in the other doorway coming from the living room. She gasped as she saw her daughters stare at her. "C-Catherine… Je-Jet…" Blake got out shakily, not knowing how to explain what happened. She looked down at her hands, shaking and covered in blood, before glancing back up to her daughters, shock on their faces as they noticed the dead body and deep crimson on their mother's hands matching the color pooling below the man on the ground.

Blake got up and rushed to her daughters. "No! Don't look! You shouldn't see this!" Blake wrapped them in a hug and forced their heads down into her chest to stop them from looking.

Catherine, being the oldest, was able to grasp the situation better than her little sister and spoke up as she felt her mother's arms around her. "M-Momma! Wh-What happened? Who is that on the ground?" The two little girls were crying into their mother as they saw her crying.

"Just…Don't look sweetie… I don't want you to see." Blake gripped them tighter as she spoke, forcing them deeper against herself, attempting to push away the sight from their memories.

"Ruby!?" The three of them heard a familiar voice come from the entrance to the home. Not taking any chances though, Blake moved her daughters to the living room, protecting them like her wife asked of her.

"Go upstairs! Now!" Blake yelled to them as they made it to the stairway, seeing the worry and fear in her girls' eyes. She had to make sure they understood though.

Suddenly another voice called out, for Blake this time. "Blake?! Are you Ok?"

Blake turned around, shielding her daughters from the potential new threat, but saw Weiss rushing over to her. She let out a shaky breath and relieved smile as she saw that the mystery person was actually a good friend. "Weiss!? Thank Oum you're here! Ruby's hurt! I haven't had a chance to call an ambulance!"

Blake, Jet, and Catherine ran towards Weiss in the hallway that led to the front door, hugging her. Realizing where they were and where Ruby last was, Blake turned around, blocking her children's sight of the hallway where Ruby laid unconscious.

"Catherine, Jet. Stay in the living room! You can't leave it, no matter what, Ok?!" Blake begged of them as she kept their faces on her instead of their other mother, bleeding out onto the wooden floor.

Catherine gave a shaky nod and pulled her crying sister to the couch to hold her, not even trying to keep back her own tears after hearing that her mommy was apparently hurt.

* * *

Once they made sure the kids were Ok for now, Blake and Weiss rushed over to Ruby, who was still on the ground. A familiar head of golden hair was right next to her, though.

Yang was lightly slapping her sister in the face, trying to wake her up with panic in her muttering voice and eyes.

A little girl, no older than 6, with snow white hair and lilac eyes was standing in the doorway near Yang, looking horrified at Ruby and the blonde, speechless in horror.

Weiss made no pause as she made it to her wife and pushed on Yang's shoulder, trying to stop her from messing with Ruby. "Yang, stop! That could be hurting her more than helping! She could have a concussion!"

"What am I supposed to do!? My sister is lying bleeding on the ground! Ruby?! Ruby?!" Yang was already crying at this point, but her despair escalated as she slammed her fists into the floor next to the pool of blood that started from Ruby's head and let out a helpless whimper. The pool was coming from her mouth, as well as the back of her skull, crusted with crimson.

"Call an ambulance! I'll make sure she's Ok!" Weiss ordered out before she saw her daughter in the doorway. "Moonstone, honey! Don't look! Go to the living room with Cat and Jet, please!"

Moonstone nodded rapidly as she rushed past everyone, taking great care not to step on Ruby as she made her way to the living room.

Weiss sat down next to Ruby's head and kept it upright in her lap as Yang stood up and pulled out her phone, doing as Weiss asked, understanding that her wife knew what she was doing better than she did.

Blake could only sit next to Weiss, as she cried over her wife, feeling nothing but crippling responsibility for causing this.

Blake opened her eyes as Weiss grabbed her shoulder, noticing her shaking in self-hate. "Blake, go get me a towel or blanket. Something to keep pressure on and wrap around her wound." Blake hesitated, not wanting to leave Ruby's side as she looked at her unconscious wife, but slowly got up with a nod, moving to find something from the living room.

Yang was busy yelling into her phone as Blake ran out of the hallway, not understanding how the person on the other end of the emergency call could be so calm in this situation. After hearing the man on the line ask if anyone else was hurt, she glanced into the kitchen and saw a body on the floor that she didn't recognize. She managed to inform him with barely intelligible words as her resolve crumbled every second she was away from Ruby's side. Yang told the operator she had no idea who he was, but she had an idea, planning to ask Blake about it once they knew Ruby was Ok.

Blake yanked a decorative blanket resting neatly on the back of the couch off and rushed back to Ruby and Weiss, not wasting a second to ponder if it was the best she could gather for Ruby. The white haired policewoman took it from her hands and wrapped it around Ruby's head gently. Seeing the blood soak quickly into the thin fabric, she gave it a few more twirls around the wound, hoping to clot the blood flow as she kept her best friend's head elevated to help.

Yang came back over as she got off the phone and sat down next to Ruby, on the other side of Weiss from Blake. "Th-They said an ambulance would be here in a few minutes. Weiss? Is…Is she gonna..?" Yang asked, tears falling from her cheeks onto Ruby's.

Weiss looked back down to Ruby's bleeding, cracked head in her lap, thinking how serious the wound must have been with how the blood still wouldn't completely stop. She looked back up to Yang, managing a false smile for her wife. "She'll be Ok, Yang... J-Just a mild fracture and concussion…"

Weiss had to keep Yang's spirits up. Yang was prone to doing stupid things when she let her emotions get the better of her. There was no need to get her worried to the point where she would do anything to help her sister if she thought her life was in danger. The truth was, Weiss didn't know how bad it was. She had seen a lot of horrible tragedies working as a police officer, but that didn't make her a doctor. She just knew that Ruby was in bad shape, but Yang and Blake didn't have to know that.

* * *

As the three kneeled around the limp body, crying for Ruby to come back to them, they lost track of time.

Sirens suddenly broke them out of their hypnotic, watery, gaze of the lifeless form below them, as two white and red vans pulled up.

The paramedics had finally arrived, pushing the group out of the way, trying to get to Ruby and the body in the kitchen to assist in any way possible.

Blake and Weiss ran back into the living room to get Cat, Jet, and Moonstone ready to go, realizing that they were about to leave with the ambulances.

The EMTs got Ruby in a gurney first and carted her to the ambulance, the girls following swiftly behind them.

The last EMT in the white and red van turned around after they got Ruby in the back, raising his hand up to stop the group. "I'm sorry, but not all of you will fit! Only one can come. Who's related or married to her?" The man asked as Adam's covered body is loaded into the other vehicle that came here.

"I'm her wife!"

"I'm her sister!"

Blake and Yang call out at the same time and look to each other in panicked desperation to stay by Ruby's side.

After a moment of indecision between the two, Yang released a low sigh and looked up to meet Blake's gaze again. "You go, Blake. Me and Weiss will take the kids with us and follow behind. Just make sure to text us which room Ruby is in after she gets settled." She gave a soft smile, trying to encourage her best friend and relieve her worries that she would be fine with this.

"Thank you, Yang. I will. I promise." Blake hugged her before climbing into the back of the ambulance with the last EMT.

The man slammed the doors shut as the sirens blared out of the vehicle, racing towards the nearest hospital, leaving the rest of the family and friends to watch.

Swallowing down the nervousness and fear that worked its way up her throat to choke her with worry, Yang shook her head and turned around to help Weiss get the kids in their car to follow after the ambulance. She quickly started the car and pulled out of the driveway, following after their family.

* * *

Blake held onto Ruby's hand the entire way, crying on it as she kept peaking up to look at the bandages getting wrapped around her wife's head, quickly doused in blood. "I'm so sorry, Ruby…I'm so sorry." Blake clenched her eyes close as she couldn't bear to look at it again, feeling nothing but guilt well up in her for letting Ruby get hurt.

The ride over felt excruciatingly long for Blake. It gave her nothing but time to drown in her thoughts of guilt and heartbreaking worry that Ruby wouldn't make it there fast enough.

Time seemed to change pace once again for the panther faunus, as the doors to the van burst open, snapping her out of her trance on Ruby. The paramedics got out and lifted Ruby's gurney up to drop the wheels out of the bottom, hurriedly rushing her into the hospital as Blake held on to her wife's hand, never losing her grip even as they made the transition.

The troop of medical staff with Blake and Ruby approached the front desk of nurses once they made it past the double doors of the hospital entrance.

"She's in critical condition! We need a doctor!" The same EMT that originally stopped Blake and Yang at the van shouted to the head nurse, relaying that this was an emergency.

"Ok! Take her to emergency room 3!" The head nurse answered back, before looking over to another nurse, standing at attention over a computer. "Page Doctor Ooblec! He should be on waiting by now!" The other nurse gave a nod as she flicked on the intercom to follow out the orders.

Another gurney rolled past the group while they were at the desk, heading down a different corridor labeled "Morgue". Blake could tell it was Adam's body, having noticed a White Fang tattoo on his arm that fell out from under the sheet, covering the corpse. She looked back to Ruby as the body vanished from sight and clenched her wife's hand again, the tears never ceasing.

Having confirmed their room, they started moving again, headed for emergency room 3 to get Ruby to a doctor. Once they arrived the EMTs stopped Blake with a hand out in front of her, just like before. "You can't follow us inside. You'll only get in the way. I'm sorry, ma'am."

Blake looked down at her hand still holding Ruby's, trembling in frustration. She felt so helpless right now, but they were right. She knew that, but…

Blake gave a solemn nod as she gave one last squeeze to Ruby's hand before letting go, trying her best to hold back tears as she was no longer able to help the red head with her presence. The medics pointed her to a waiting area before rushing into room 3, leaving Blake to stand in the hallway, alone.

The cat faunus eventually trudged over to the room entailed and sat down. Blake pulled out her phone, tears coming down her face at being separated from Ruby. She sloppily texted Weiss the room number, the tears in her eyes and the emotions making it more difficult to perform such a task. Once she received a message back that Weiss got the number, she tossed her phone aside and wept into her hands, waiting to hear if Ruby would make it or not. It was all she could do as she was left alone in the silent room, just wait…

* * *

After an agonizingly long time, Weiss and Yang showed up with the kids holding their hands. Once they saw her through the glass window from the hallway, the yellow and white pair ran in and sat down next to Blake. Yang and Weiss were on either side as they hugged her tightly, feeling the anguish emit from their black haired friend.

The three kids sat on the last few chairs located on the other side of the waiting room, as they were asked by Weiss when they entered. Moonstone sat in between Jet and Cat, being hugged by both of the faunus girls as she held back her whimpers, trying to stay strong for them.

"It's Ok, Blake. She'll pull through. You heard Weiss, it wasn't anything to worry about." Yang spoke positively, trying to comfort Blake as she rubbed her back with her hand in small soothing motions. Wanting to confirm it for Blake and herself once again, she then looked to Weiss. "Right, snow cone?" Yang gave her a small, broken smile, hoping she wouldn't hear anything different.

Weiss shakily nodded back with a similar smile. "Y-Yes! Blake, you have nothing to worry about."

"I…I did this…" Blake mumbled out slowly, as she visibly shook in her own arms.

Yang and Weiss looked at each other, worried by the deadness in the tone. Yang was the first to speak up. "Blake, that's bullsh-crap! Whatever happened, I know you did everything you could to help Ruby." Yang encouraged, stopping herself from cursing in front of their kids that were seated only a few feet away in the small room.

"Exactly, Blake. You would never see harm done to Ruby. Don't blame yourself for whatever did this, she'll be f-fine." Weiss agreed with her wife, slipping up on her lie as no one seemed to notice.

"It was Adam!" Blake yelled out in fury and guilt as they just kept telling her that everything was going to be Ok, that it wasn't her fault. She buried her face in her hands to cry as she just knew they had to be wrong. _'I…I should never have-…'_

"What?! He's back? I thought you had a restraining order placed on him? He would risk several years in jail just to see you again?" Yang got angry as she realized it was him that hurt Ruby, but then the flame in her chest was gone as she remembered the body in the kitchen. "Wait, Blake…? What happened to him…?" Lilac eyes widened with worry as they see Blake freeze.

Blake started to shake as she spoke slowly and quietly. "He didn't care about jail… He just…wanted me all to himself…And he was willing to kill Ruby to do it. I…I had to do it…To protect her…And to protect Cat and Jet…" Blake was wracked with guilt as she sobbed openly now. "…He-He left me no choice! I had to!" Blake shook her head back and forth. She then realized the reason behind her actions was right across the room from her.

She looked to her daughters and niece with crazed and blurry eyes, as the three were staring back at her, scared and without a clue as to what was happening.

Weiss and Yang looked at each other again and Yang soon nodded her head towards the children without taking her eyes off of her wife, as they finished their silent conversation.

"Moonstone. Can you take your cousins to the play room over there? It will just be a minute." Weiss asked as she pointed to a doorway that led to a room where other kids were playing in.

"Yes, mom." Moonstone nodded and grabbed the other kid's hands, leading them down the hallway.

With the kids now out of hearing distance, at least mostly with Cat and Jet's hearing, Weiss encouraged Blake to continue her explanation. Weiss and Yang knew what Blake meant, but needed to be sure. "What happened, Blake? You can tell us." Weiss rubbed her back to comfort her for what was about to be a heavy realization, for sure.

Blake was still shivering in regret and pain. It helped knowing that her daughters didn't have to see her that way anymore. "Th-There was a knife left on the counter top from dinner… He-He came at me, and…and…" Blake covered her face in her hands again and choked on her cries, trying to escape the reenactment going through her head. She couldn't run away though, she knew what she had done. What she was now…

"…I'm a murderer…" Blake gargled out through raspy tears as she kept holding her face in her hands, not able to face her friends anymore.

"Blake, he left you no choice…" Getting no reaction from the sobbing faunus, the blonde continued with her voice raised. "It was either him or your family! No one blames you for choosing the latter!" Yang put her hand on Blake's shoulder to try and comfort her as she cried, but the faunus got up from her seat instead, shrugging off the consoling hand as she felt she didn't deserve it.

"But he **was** my family! We were everything to each other before I left him! It was my fault he attacked Ruby! If I hadn't have left him, no one would have gotten hurt!" Blake cried with her back to them as she tore herself apart with guilt.

Weiss did the only thing she could think of as she watched her friend wish for something that would have ruined her life. She stood up after her and pulled Blake back around to face them again, only to slap her across the face.

Blake grabbed her face and stared, wide eyed, at the police officer who struck her, completely speechless.

"You're an idiot! If you had stayed with Adam, it would have been you who was hurt!" Weiss yelled with clenched fists, fed up with Adam's influence on Blake even after he was gone.

"I don't care! It would have been better than-…!" Blake tried to reason that at least Ruby would be safe, but Weiss cut her off again, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"No! If you would have stayed with Adam, sure, Ruby wouldn't be hurt right now, but she wouldn't have 2 beautiful daughters and a wife that cares so much about her, she would be willing to throw her life away just to save her from a little head injury! You meeting Ruby was the best thing to ever happen to her, Blake! Don't tell me you would actually be willing to take that from her! That's a lie, Blake, and you know it!" Weiss finished as she slapped Blake against the chest a few pitiful times, pushing on her, begging her to take it back, before she caved into the girl's body and wrapped her arms around Blake in a hug, crying into her shoulder, wanting anything but her dear friend to no longer be a part of her life.

Blake looked down with misty eyes to see tears dripping onto Weiss' shaking snow white hair. She completed the hug as she held onto Weiss, both shaking in sorrow as she realized that the policewoman was right. Why was she ever thinking that her life without Ruby would make everyone better off?

Blake then felt another set of arms come around her from behind, encasing her in a familiar warmth that only a certain blonde could provide.

The panther faunus eventually gave out a sniff and a rub of her eyes to dry her tears before speaking to the both of them. "You're…right…I'm sorry." Blake got out quietly through sniffles as Weiss looked up at her with a teary smile. "But…" Blake then took her hands back and stared at them, palms facing her, shaking. "…H-How do I tell them…That their wife and m-mother is a **murderer** …?" Amber eyes clench closed as Blake shakes with worry.

Yang and Weiss hug her tightly as she cried again, holding Weiss once again.

"You know Ruby would never treat you any differently…And neither would we, Blake. You saved my baby sister…I could never repay you for that." Yang spoke as she cried into Blake's neck while in the group hug, so thankful that Blake kept that monster from doing further harm to Ruby.

"We're here for you, Blake. You don't have to handle the guilt alone, you idiot!" Weiss finished with a smile. The jab put a small smile on Blake's face as well, reminding her of all the times they would tease one another.

"Th-Thank you…" Blake mumbled out as she kept hugging tightly, too scared to let go.

* * *

After a while, the three were broken up by the sound of someone's throat clearing beside them. They looked to the person and it was a man with long black hair in a ponytail, with glasses on the bridge of his nose before he pushed them back up.

"Are you the loved ones of Mrs. Rose-Belladonna?" He asked softly, not wanting to speak too loud or fast to upset them.

They nodded and he gestured for them to follow. Weiss went to collect the kids before catching up with them, as he led the family into the room where they took Ruby to be operated on.

They could hear the beeping of the EKG machine as they saw a familiar face with their forehead wrapped in bandages. The figure was unconscious and motionless, like a fragile doll.

Blake, Yang, and Weiss gasped out as they saw Ruby like that, so weak and helpless. It wasn't anything like how she normally was. Joy and happiness would radiate from the short red head, as she always had a cheery smile on her face. Like nothing could ever get her down. It broke their hearts to see her like that as they rushed to her side, Blake taking her left hand, and Yang taking her right. Weiss pulled up some chairs for her, Yang and the kids while Blake just kneeled beside her wife's bed, tears coming back to her amber orbs.

The doctor gave them a moment to get situated before speaking, wanting them to be as comfortable as possible for delivering news to the patient's family. "She will be alright. The damage to the brain wasn't extensive as far as we can tell so far, but…She may have some memory loss. It could be permanent, or it could be temporary. We don't know for sure, but whichever the case, take it slow with her when she wakes up. Which one of you is her wife?"

Blake looked over to him sadly, mumbling. "I am. Blake Belladonna-Rose…"

The doctor nodded and continued softly, having dealt with this situation many times before. "Well, my name is Doctor Candor, and when your wife wakes up, whenever that may be, she will need to stay in the hospital for a few weeks so we can run some tests on her. We need to make sure there aren't any actual long lasting effects on her brain. After she is discharged, you will need to keep an eye on her. She still won't be one hundred percent. Not for a while, I'm afraid…"

"Thank you, Doctor. I can't tell you how much this means to me that you saved her." Blake spoke equally softly, her throat hoarse from all the screaming and crying from this incredibly long and dreadful day.

"Of course. I was just doing my job. We will be moving her to a normal visiting room in about an hour, so feel free to stay as long as you like." Doctor Candor said as he dismissed himself with a curt bow.

"Momma, what happened to mommy?" Jet asked as she tugged on her momma's sleeve, worried.

Tears fell down Blake's face again, but she didn't sob. She didn't want their daughters to see them like this, so she held fast as she took a steady breath before answering. "She…fell down in the hallway and hurt her head. She's going to be Ok, though. The doctor said so, sweetie." Blake hugged Jet and Cat and kissed them on the tops of their heads, holding them tightly with one arm as she still held onto Ruby's hand, never letting go.

Weiss sat next to Yang, on the other side of the bed from Blake and her kids, and slipped her hand into her wife's, locking their fingers together. She held Moonstone tightly in her lap, as they all wished to see Ruby's bright smile once again.

* * *

A few weeks had gone by and Ruby still didn't wake up. Blake never wanted to leave her wife's side, but she had two kids to take care of. Catherine was about to start Pre-K and Blake couldn't let her miss that. Still, she stayed with Ruby most of every day. Talking to her about how their kids were doing. What new thing Weiss and Yang were bickering about, but only when the other couple had come to see her as well. When it was just her and Ruby, Blake was able to let down the barriers she put up around her family and friends, usually ending in her breaking down on Ruby's bedside, the silence being too much for her.

Yang stayed about as much as Blake did, though. She and Weiss also had responsibilities to take care of, but she spent time with Ruby and Blake every day, helping Blake cope with the missing half in her life…

"Well, Blake. I need to get back to work. Sun can't do everything without me." Yang said as she stood up to leave as Blake got up to see her out.

"Alright, Yang. Thanks for coming." Blake spoke, just barely out of monotone, as Yang walked through the open doorway.

Just as Blake was about to close the door after Yang, they both hear a groan come from the bed and turn around towards the source. They ran back in and sat down next to Ruby as she furrowed her brow and grumbled again, shifting slightly in bed.

"Mmmmh…What…ha-happened?" It was quiet, and Ruby's lips barely moved, but it was her voice.

"Ruby?! Can you hear me? Do you feel alright? How's your head?" Blake fired off question after question as her wife slowly came to.

Ruby opened her eyes and squinted at the bright fluorescent lighting of the hospital above her bed. Her vision started to focus and she saw two humanoids blocking some of the light, peering down at her from above. One with gold hair, the other with black.

Ruby blinked her eyes and her vision cleared up once more, seeing the two people smiling and crying at the same time, as they stared back at her. "Mmmh…Yang…? B-Blake…? What happened?"

Ruby's instantly enveloped by both of them in a hug. Ruby yelped out as she's surprised by the sudden gesture, not understanding anything. "What's wrong? You're acting like you haven't seen me in weeks." She got out as she coughed with a dry throat.

Blake pulled back from the hug while weeping, just enough to see Ruby's face again. "That's because you were gone for three! You scared me to death!" Blake started pelting her with kisses while holding on for dear life, so glad she was back and was able to remember them.

Ruby looked over to Yang, as she closed one eye on instinct as Blake kissed her there, wanting to see if what her wife was saying was the truth.

Yang still hadn't pulled back from the hug, though. Still clutching onto Ruby as if she might slip away from her once again.

"W-What do you mean, gone? Where did I go?" Ruby was thoroughly confused. She couldn't remember going on any trip. The last thing she remembered was coming back from Yang's shop early in the day to see her family. After that, everything was a blur.

Yang finally pulled back to speak. She was sobbing onto Ruby's hospital gown as she spoke. "Y-You were hurt, Ruby. Don't you remember anything?"

"H-Hurt?! H-…* **cough** *" Ruby coughed a few times more, her throat felt like she was in a desert for a year…Maybe she was? "C-Can I get some water, please?" She asked quietly, not wanting to upset her throat again.

Yang nodded as she wiped her tears away with a smile, grabbing a glass from a tray the staff provided in case she woke up, and handed it to her sister. Ruby took slow gulps, as instructed by both her sister and wife, and felt a little better after two full glasses.

To answer her wife's question, Blake decided to speak up, feeling like it was her job to explain. She no longer blamed herself for Adam hurting Ruby, but she still felt incredible guilt for killing him. "It…It was Adam…He showed up again. He smacked your head against the ground and it put you in a small coma. I'm sorry, Ruby."

"Adam!? He came back? What happened to him, then?" Ruby ignored her apology as worry filled her mind. If she was knocked out when Adam came back, what happened to Blake and their kids? "The Kids!? Where are Cat and Jet?!" Ruby's motherly instincts kicked in once her train of thought crossed paths with her family's wellbeing.

"They're with Weiss and Moonstone at our house. Don't worry Rubes. They're fine." Yang answered with a smile, never getting tired of seeing how much her sister cares for her family. Yang then hits the button on the side of the bed, calling the nurse to check on Ruby, now that she's awake.

"What about you, Blake? Are you Ok? He didn't hurt you, did he?" Ruby immediately turned to her second biggest priority to worry about, her wife. She checked over Blake's body for anything out of the ordinary, but found nothing.

Blake gave a huge smile as she continued to cry in joy. She dove back into Ruby, hugging her as hard as she could. "I'm Ok, Ruby. I'm just glad you're finally up…" She mumbled into Ruby's chest, tears soaking the hospital gown.

Ruby smiled softly at her wife as she stared down at her in her chest, running her hand through Blake's silky, night-sky, black hair, like they always used to do when they sat on their couch, relaxing in each other's embrace.

Blake started to calm down and gave out a light purr as she rubbed her head into Ruby's hand, wanting more.

"That's good…But if you're Ok, then what happened?" Ruby asked softly, not halting her ministrations until Blake's purring stopped cold.

Yang cut into the tense atmosphere to save Blake from the dread as quickly as she could. "He's gone, Ruby. You're never going to see him again. Blake took care of it. She…She talked him into leaving for good." Yang rubbed Blake's shoulder softly as she lied for her, hoping for the best that Ruby bought it.

Ruby smiled to her sister then to Blake again, who was still laying against Ruby's chest, happy to hear that things worked out for the betterment of everyone then. Blake raised up slowly to stare at Ruby with sad, pleading eyes, though. She couldn't lie to Ruby about this, there was no way she could keep it hidden from her forever.

"I…I killed him, Ruby…"

Yang's soft smile dropped as Blake stopped her plan to let Ruby remain oblivious to the truth.

Ruby's eyes widened at the explanation. "He's…Dead? You killed him?"

Blake shakily nodded as she cried more. "He came at me after he hurt you…I had no choice…" Blake shook her head, drowning in the guilt again before trying to bury her face back into her wife's chest.

Ruby didn't allow this, though. She cupped Blake's cheeks, holding her face still as she peered into her love's eyes.

The coma patient smiled at Blake with tears in her eyes, seeing all the guilt and self-pity residing in those amber orbs that were meant to be filled with so much love. "You did what you thought was right, Blake. You had to protect our family. There was no stopping him if what you said was true. You saved us, Blake…" Ruby pulled Blake in for a tight hug.

Blake was shocked after what Ruby said. Yang and Weiss had told her that Ruby would understand, but she still couldn't explain the relief that washed over her as Ruby didn't hold it against her that she murdered Adam. The faunus hugged back just as hard, crying into her wife's shoulder with shear joy.

As they pulled back, Blake left her lips against Ruby's after a short kiss. "I love you, Ruby. I'm so glad you're Ok!"

Ruby then cups Blake's cheek and kisses her back, quickly returning the heartwarming words after pulling apart. "I love you too…I always will."

* * *

It took longer than a month before Ruby was comfortable again in her home. She occasionally still got headaches and mild cases of vertigo, even flashbacks in her head of the fight she had with Adam that day, but with the help of Blake and her adorable daughters, she was on the right track to returning to her normal life.

With all the time she spent taking it easy, per the doctor's orders, Ruby used most of it to continue drawing and reading in the comfort of her own home, and of course spending time with her family too. Her daughters were the world's best medicine as she was stuck in her home all day with Blake at work. The crazy energy of Ruby mixed with the cute cat ears, tail, and heightened senses from Blake made every day an exciting adventure for the redhead dealing with their shenanigans.

Blake was so relieved that Cat and Jet seemed to get over the events Adam caused in time. The time their mommy was in the hospital had the kids worried about Ruby instead of what Blake did to the person on the kitchen floor. The young mother was horrified the sight from that day would scar them for life, seeing their mother kill someone, but surprisingly, they never brought it back up. Cat and Jet were quiet for a few weeks after the events, but when Ruby was back at home with them, they started smiling again.

There was still the occasional nightmare of the events that took place that still haunted Blake and Ruby, and sometimes the kids, but nothing they couldn't live with, as long as they had each other to hold onto. The nightmares would pass in time for the kids and Ruby. For Blake though, it took more than just time.

After several months had passed since Ruby was back in their home, Blake decided she needed to see **him** one last time, hoping that it would let her finally bury the hatchet.

Blake discussed it with Ruby, telling her that she wanted to go alone, and Ruby, even though she wanted to be there for her in case she needed someone to cry on, respected her wish, staying at the house to watch kids.

* * *

Blake approached the grave marker of Adam Taurus and knelt down in front of it, carrying a small bunch of roses in both of her trembling hands. She wore a black zip-up hoodie on the chilly October morning as she placed the roses onto the marker. Blake didn't know if it was the cold nipping at her numbing hands or if it was being there in that eerie graveyard, staring at Adam's tombstone, but her hands wouldn't stop shaking after she got out of her SUV. Only when she took a deep breath and started speaking, did she find her body start to relax.

"Adam… I hope you're finally at peace now. I hope to be, after this visit…Why couldn't you just let me go? I wish I could have made you understand that I just didn't love you anymore. Not the person you became…" Blake shook her head as tears spiked her eyes.

"…I sometimes think that if you would have just tried to talk to me when you showed up at our house, then maybe you would have seen that I was happy where I was, with Ruby. Maybe we could have continued to at least be friends, but I know that's just wishful thinking…There was no getting through to you at that point, and I see that now…" She smiled softly as she touched the singular wilting rose carved into the stone above his name, finally ready to say what guilt and anger were keeping her from ever uttering.

"…But I forgive you Adam, for all that you did to me and my family... And more importantly…I think I c-…I forgive myself. There was truly nothing else I could have done." Blake stuttered as her resolve shook, but she remained firm as she owed it to her family to move past this.

"I'm just sorry you couldn't let go…Good bye, Adam." Blake wiped her teary eyes on her sleeve as she rubbed her thumb across the engraved rose with care. She then got up and left the cemetery, ready to put this behind her and spend time in her family's company.

* * *

She visited his grave a few more times after that. Each time, feeling the guilt and pain lifting from her shoulders little by little. Until eventually, she no longer needed to see him at all.

Blake and Ruby had their best years ahead of them. The days when they get to watch their kids grow up, see them get married to the ones they love, and strive towards their dreams. They knew they would be so proud of them when those days came. They also wouldn't be there alone when those day came. The rest of the Rose/Xiao Long family would be right there with them. Every step of the way…

* * *

 **There it is! The end of "The Panther Sinks Her Claws!" I hope people found this a good read, like I enjoyed writing it!**

 **In the earlier planning of this story, I thought about having Adam show up a changed man, but I thought that would have been too easy and not nearly as satisfying to read... Plus this way I got to kill Adam for what he did to Blake and Yang in the canon show! :p**

 **I have actually started another story that ties with this one if you're interested in more of this story. It's called, "The Best Pieces". It's a series of one-shots covering the events during the 7 year time skip of chapter 3. Stuff like Ruby and Blake's proposal, a crap load of fluff with the Rose/Xiao Long families, and one chapter covering how Yang and Weiss met that I will eventually turn into it's own story, when I get the time to write it...**

 **Anyways, I would really appreciate hearing how this story was received. I can only get better if I hear of the problems, not everything is caught by the person that wrote it!**

 **So thank you for taking the time to read my little story! Until the next one, peace!**


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